Ato Agustin
Renato "Ato" Agustin (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current coach. He played college basketball for the Lyceum of the Philippines before moving on to play professional basketball in the Philippine Basketball Association.[1]
 | |
| San Miguel Beermen | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach |
| League | PBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 1, 1963 Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Lyceum of the Philippines University |
| PBA draft | 1989 Round: 2 / Pick: 11th overall |
| Selected by the San Miguel Beermen | |
| Playing career | 1989–2001 |
| Position | Point guard / Shooting guard |
| Coaching career | 2009–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1989–1996 | San Miguel Beermen |
| 1996–1997 | Pop Cola Panthers |
| 1997 | Mobiline Phone Pals |
| 1998 | Pampanga Dragons |
| 1999 | Sta. Lucia Realtors |
| 2000–2001 | Batang Red Bull Energizers |
| As coach: | |
| 2009–2010 | San Sebastian Stags |
| 2010–2012 | Petron Blaze Boosters |
| 2013–2014 | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |
| 2014–2015 | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (assistant) |
| 2015 | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |
| 2015–present | San Miguel Beermen (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach: | |
Agustin was the Most Valuable Player awardee of the PBA in 1992.[1] He played for the San Miguel Beermen, Sunkist/Pop Cola, Mobiline Phone Pals, Sta. Lucia Realtors, and finally, Batang Red Bull. Agustin was named a member of the PBA's 25 Greatest Players in 2000. He also had a brief stint in with the Pampanga Dragons in the Metropolitan Basketball Association.
A shooting guard since his amateur days with RFM-Swift Corporation of the Philippine Basketball League, Agustin saw limited minutes during his rookie season with the grandslam-winning San Miguel Beermen in 1989, playing backup to his more illustrious teammates Samboy Lim and Elmer Reyes. However, beginning the 1990 season, he became a regular part of the Beermen's backcourt rotation with the departure of Reyes to expansion team Pop-Cola (RFM) and constant injuries to Lim and Hector Calma. Coach Norman Black would sometimes play Agustin at point guard until he became an adept combo guard.
He is the former head coach of the San Sebastian Golden Stags men's basketball team in the NCAA, having taken over from Jorge Gallent in 2009, and winning a championship in the same year. In 2010, he became head coach of his former PBA team, the San Miguel Beermen. During the 2011 PBA Governors' Cup, Agustin steered the team (then known as the Petron Blaze Boosters) to the championship, defeating the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in seven games. He became the 9th coach in PBA history to win a title in his first year as head coach.[2][3]
On July 25, 2013, San Miguel Corporation, owner of Petron Blaze Boosters and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, announced the appointment of Agustin as interim coach of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel for the 2013 PBA Governor's Cup.[4]
On January 5, 2015, Barangay Ginebra team manager Alfrancis Chua announced during the team's practice the reappointment of Agustin as head coach of the team.[5] This was after former coach Jeffrey Cariaso's attempt to end Ginebra's PBA championship drought failed after two conferences. After a quarterfinal finish in the Commissioner's Cup, Agustin was fired as the head coach of Ginebra and was replaced by assistant coach Frankie Lim. Following his termination, he returned to San Miguel Beermen as an assistant coach.[6]
Coaching record
References
- Ato Agustin: From top guard to hotshot coach - Inquirer.net, Philippine news for Filipinos Archived April 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- "The winning ways of Ato Agustin" August 22, 2011, InterAKTV
- "Petron Blaze slams Talk 'N Text in epic Game 7 to win Governor's Cup", August 21, 2011, InterAKTV
- "Ginebra names Agustin as interim coach, Chua as team manager", July 26, 2013, The Philippine Star
- "Agustin back as Ginebra head coach", January 5, 2015, Inquirer
- SMC big boss Ramon Ang confirms Frankie Lim replacing Ato Agustin as Ginebra coach, Snow Badua, spin.ph, March 30, 2015
- Hardcourt: The Official Philippine Basketball Association Annual