Carlos Loyzaga was born on August 26, 1930 in Manila. He
first played basketball at his neighborhood in Santa Mesa, Manila in Teresa
Valenzuela Athletic Club (TERVALAC).Gabby Fajardo, another Filipino basketball
great took notice of Loyzaga’s playing skill and height. He later helped him
hone his skill in the game.
In college Loyzaga tried to play at Collegio de San Juan
Letran, but the coach gave him the cold shoulder. He eventually suited up with
San Beda College where he was instrumental in giving the school three titles
for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1951,
1952 and 1955. It was in San Beda where Loyzaga earned the sobriquet “the Big
Difference” because his presence on the court was a factor in the winning of
the game.
After college, he joined the famed YCO team in 1954 which
was owned by businessman Manolo Elizalde. With him as one of the team’s key
players, YCO was able to win 8 consecutive National Open Championships from
1954 to 1960 and five MICAA Championships.
Loyzaga’s stint with YCO was the time of a fierce rivalry
with another equally fabled team named Ysmael Steel for basketball supremacy
starting in 1958.Both were the dominant teams in the MICAA tournaments, and the
championship trophy went to either team. Other teams could hardly snatch a
title with YCO and Ysmael Steel around. Basketball fans and generally Filipinos
loved to see both teams play against each other. The team’s rivalry in the late
1950’s and the 1960’s furthered Filipinos love for basketball and star players
were celebrities. With good players playing either for YCO or Ysmael Steel it
followed then that most players who played for the country in international
competition mostly came from both teams.
Loyzaga had an imposing presence on the court. The Spanish
Basque mestizo was unusually tall at 6’3” for the average Filipino during his
time. His size, good look and playing skill made him stand out from other
players, and he was one of the fans’ favorites. Loyzaga was also the most
valuable player of the painters, the name which the basketball players of YCO
were called.
The decades of the early 50’s and the 60’s were the golden
era of Philippine basketball when the country dominated almost all of the
tournaments in Asia. With Loyzaga as one of the country’s key player, the
Philippines won four consecutive gold medals in 1951, 1954, 1958 and 1962 in
the Asian Games. With Loyzaga in the team, the Philippines won the1960 and the
1963 Asian Basketball Conference which is now called FIBA Asia.
Philippine’s great moment in basketball came in 1954 during the
Second World Basketball Games (now called FIBA World) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Powered by Carlos Loyzaga and Lauro Mumar, the country garnered the bronze
medal or third place. That ranking is the highest ever for an Asian country in that competition. Adding flavor to the Philippine team accomplishment
was the inclusion of Loyzaga in the game’s Mythical Five players. Loyzaga averaged
16.4 points per game in the tournament. The Philippines was not as fortunate in
the 1959 Fiba World in Santiago de Chile, Chile where it placed only 8th..
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| RP team to the 1959 FIBA World. Loyzaga is the no. 3 |
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| Loyzaga on the floor |
Philippine’s basketball contingent always included Carlos
Loyzaga in its team. Loyzaga played for the country’s basketball team for the
1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki where the Philippines placed 9th. He played
again for the country in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne where the team
placed 7th. He could have made it again to the 1960 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
However, he broke his wrist while playing softball and for his injury he had to
beg off from the Olympics.
Age caught up with him, and Loyzaga retired from active
competition in 1964. But he continued to be in basketball as head coach of YCO.
He also coached for the UST varsity team as well as the national team in
international competitions. The mid 60’s
saw the rise of other countries in Asia which bested the Philippines in
basketball. Loyzaga now as a coach brought the Philippines back to glory when
he steered his team to the championship by defeating arch rival South Korea in
the 1967 ABC or FIBA Asia. The victory so much delighted the basketball loving Filipinos
so that coach Loyzaga and the players were treated with a parade in the streets of Manila,
and an audience with President Ferdinand Marcos at Malacanang Palace. In the
1968 Loyzaga coached the Philippine Basketball Team in Summer Olympic Games in Mexico.
The team placed only 13th in a field of 16 participating countries.
The professional Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
opened in 1975, and most of YCO’s key players were moved to its sister team
Tanduay in the new league. In the PBA Loyzaga coached U/TEX and Tanduay teams.
Carlos Loyzaga, died at Cardinal Santos Medical Center on
January 27, 2016 at age 85. His children
are former basketball players Chito and Joaquin and movie actresses Bing and
Teresa. Loyzaga is one of the greatest players who played basketball in the
Philippines. He has given the Philippines a great service by representing the
country in various international competitions on which the Philippines garnered
several medals or got a respectable finish. The honor that he gave his country as an
athlete had made the Filipinos proud of their country. Loyzaga was inducted to
the Philippine National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 and was conferred the
Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Century Award in 2000.
