Carlos Loyzaga

Filipino basketball player, coach and politician

Carlos "Caloy" Loyzaga y Matute (August 29, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was a Filipino basketball player, coach and politician. He was the most dominant basketball player of his era in the Philippines and is considered as the greatest Filipino basketball player of all time. Loyzaga was a two time Olympian (1952, 1956), as a member of the Philippine national team. On June 2, 2023, he became the first Filipino player to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, which was done in the lead up to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which the Philippines co hosts.

Loyzaga was born on August 29, 1930. He was the fourth child of Joaquín de Loyzaga Martínez and María del Carmen Matute y Sequera. His father was a football player and a member of the Philippine national team which competed and won medals at the Far Eastern Championship Games. Loyzaga survived the Second World War together with his mother, sister, and two brothers. He studied at the Padre Burgos Elementary School in Santa Mesa, Manila and National University for high school until 1948.

Loyzaga learned to play basketball in the neighborhood TERVALAC (Teresa Valenzuela Athletic Club) basketball courts in Teresa Street, Santa Mesa, Manila. It was in the very same TERVALAC court where he was discovered by Gabby Fajardo, one of the Philippines' leading coaches of the time. Fajardo saw promise in Loyzaga and offered to train Loyzaga for his junior PRATRA (Philippine Relief and Trade Rehabilitation Administration) team. In 1949, Loyzaga quit high school to play for PRATRA, winning the MICAA junior crown that year.

Loyzaga wanted to enroll at Letran, but backed out at the last minute when the coach gave him a cold shoulder. He was about to enroll at the University of Santo Tomas, but this also did not materialize after Fely Fajardo (older brother of Gabby), coach of the San Beda Red Lions, recruited him. In the NCAA cage wars for the coveted Zamora Trophy in the 1950s, San Beda lost its title bid when Loyzaga did not see action due to scholastic reasons. During the spirited rivalry between the San Beda Red Lions and the Ateneo Blue Eagles, the sports moderator of San Beda discovered that, under the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) rules, Loyzaga had one year of eligibility left. He was allowed to play for that one year specifically for the Red Lions to capture the Zamora Cup, the prize for the team that had three NCAA championships. The only eligible teams were San Beda (Champions, 1951 and 1952) and Ateneo de Manila (Champions 1953, 1954). Loyzaga successfully helped San Beda clinch the Zamora Trophy. Following San Beda's triple championships (1951, 1952 and 1955), the Zamora Trophy was retired. That moment in time earned Loyzaga the legendary title of "The Big Difference".

Loyzaga joined the fabled YCO Painters in 1954 after powering PRATRA, and its successor team, PRISCO (Price Stabilization Corporation), to the National Open championship in 1950 and 1953, respectively. He helped the Painters achieve a 49 game winning streak from 1954 to 1956, including several MICAA titles and ten straight National Open titles. Loyzaga took over as the Painters' head coach after retiring in 1964.

Loyzaga was a two time Olympian 1952 (9th place) and 1956 (7th place) as a member of the Philippines men's national basketball team. He helped the Philippines become one of the best in the world at the time, winning four consecutive Asian Games gold medals (1951, 1954, 1958, 1962) and two consecutive FIBA Asia Championships (1960, 1963). His finest moment was at the 1954 FIBA World Championship where he led the Philippines to a bronze finish. It was the best finish by an Asian country and the Philippines have remained the only Asian medalist in the tournament. He finished as one of the tournament’s leading scorers with a 16.4 points per game average and was named in the tournament's All Star selection.

Loyzaga started as player coach for YCO during the early 1960s. After retiring as a player in 1964, he became the head coach of YCO and the Manila Bank Golden Bankers in the MICAA; and the UST Glowing Goldies in the UAAP. He coached the Philippine men's basketball team that won the 1967 ABC Championship (now known as the FIBA Asia Championship). In the Philippine Basketball Association, he coached U/Tex (1975 1976) and Tanduay (1977 1979). He was the grandfather of Diego Loyzaga. Loyzaga died on January 27, 2016, at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan, Metro Manila. He suffered a stroke in Australia in 2011 prior to returning to the Philippines in 2013. As a posthumous commemoration, the San Beda College officially retired the #14 jersey used by Loyzaga during the opening ceremonies of the NCAA Season 92 basketball tournament on June 25, 2016, at the Mall of Asia Arena. Members of the Loyzaga family attended the jersey retirement ceremony.