Thrill of a lifetime for Luigi

Just before he made the  all-important decision to  coach the Alaska Aces,  Luigi  Trillo found himself at a vital crossroads in his basketball career.

He had received a tempting offer from a huge business conglomerate to take charge of its basketball operations,  with  an added incentive to boot—a chance to coach one of its teams in the very near future.

Luigi was flattered to be offered such a package.

He was ready to give it a go, but first  he had to talk to his boss Fred Steven Uytengsu, who has been his and his father’s benefactor for years, perhaps even decades.

After 13 or so years as Alaska assistant coach, he was ready to request for  permission to transfer to another team.

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Luigi was expecting  to get his  release when he finally got to sit down with Fred,  but much to his pleasant surprise, he got a counter offer instead from the chieftain of the Alaska franchise.

“He offered me the  head coaching job, once occupied by the legendary Tim Cone who had been my mentor. Now I had a problem, but it was a good dilemma and  it did not take me long to make a decision.

“I opted to stay loyal to  Fred and accepted his offer. I don’t know at what point in time he did it but Fred told me he had talked to the players and other members of  the team regarding my new appointment and nobody objected.”

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Luigi is now 37. He has come a long way from the first time he coached  Adamson University in the UAAP where he failed to win a single  game in his maiden season.

This was enough to break the spirit of a rookie coach, but it only served as a challenge to Luigi, who performed better every year.

And so after 14 years  of hands-on learning, Luigi felt  it was time to move on and take the challenge of being  the head coach of Alaska.

Luigi said he has many people to thank for his resounding success in the Commissioner’s Cup recently but from those he mentioned, one name rings loud and clear: CK Kanapi, daughter of former Shell governor Bobby Kanapi.

“I couldn’t have made it without  her invaluable help, knowledge and basketball sense,”  said  Trillo.

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And what was  the reaction of JLT (Luigi’s father Joaqui Trillo, the Alaska team manager) to your feat, I asked him.

” Now it can be told.  Every game day  after the eliminations, JLT would motor to the Pink Sisters Convent in Tagaytay to pray for me. Every game day! He’d pray for 45 minutes, then write down his petition  on a piece of paper.”

Obviously, Joaqui’s prayers were answered.