When Tiebreaker Times broke the news that Aldin Ayo’s good friend and mentor Louie Gonzalez was going to take over as head coach of the De La Salle University Green Archers Sunday evening, many of the comments expressed their delight, saying that it was a long time coming. However, there were some, especially the younger generation, asking what his experiences are.
Based on his Linked In profile, it is safe to say that Gonzalez, who has been called as the architect of Ayo’s Mayhem system, lives and breathes basketball.
Gonzalez, a Letran alumnus, learned the ropes under former Letran head coach Binky Favis back in the late 1990’s. He was part of the team’s staff that won the NCAA Season 75 championship.
He then went on to coach the high school varsity team of the British School Manila in 2004 before he was tapped by Glenn Capacio as assistant coach in Far Eastern University from 2007-2010. In FEU, the two developed a close bond as Capacio even took Gonzalez to the big league when he was signed as chief tactician of the Globalport Batang Pier from August 2012 to January 2014.
When Pido Jarencio took over Globalport, Gonzalez was removed from the team’s staff but was immediately picked up by the debuting Kia Sorento in 2014. In Kia, Gonzalez was reunited with Ayo.
The year 2015 was the time when the hits kept coming for the trio of Gonzalez, Ayo, and Capacio.
Gonzalez’s first experience as head coach of a semi-professional team came during the 2015 PBA D-League Foundation Cup with the MP Hotel-Letran Warriors. He then served as Ayo’s lead assistant coach and basketball program director of Letran during that year as well while Capacio served as the team’s consultant. In addition, he was named as the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines’ secretary-general — a position he still serves up to this day.
In a sudden move, the trio moved to La Salle after steering the Letran Knights to the NCAA Season 91 Seniors’ Basketball crown. It was also during that time that the Philippine Sports Commission enlisted him as the national program director of the Philippine Sports Institute.
Gonzalez has done all of this while being the president and founder of the Metropolitan School Sports Association, a grassroots league for grade school and high school student-athletes.
Last Friday, his biggest break came when he was appointed as the head coach of one of the biggest basketball programs in the country. Though Ayo will not be part of his staff, Capacio will still be with him as team consultant while Siot Tanquincen and Anton Altamirano will be his staff. And no one will be more proud than his late father Tanny, who is an alumnus of La Salle Green Hills.
