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    Mike Magpayo proud to be the torchbearer of Asian coaches in US

    Fil-Am coach says his hiring at Division I school a victory for all Asian coaches in US
    Jul 19, 2020
    PHOTO: gohighlanders.com

    FILIPINO fans are still celebrating Mike Magpayo's hiring as head coach for UC Riverside, which makes him the first coach of Asian descent to assume such role in NCAA Division 1.

    No one's prouder than his parents.

    "My parents are proud as heck," the Fil-American mentor told Coaches Unfiltered. "Nobody’s more proud than my mom and dad, so it means a lot just to make my family proud."

    "My mom keeps saying that everybody’s adding her on Facebook. Of course (we're getting) all these well wishes from people that I don’t even know. It just happened too fast for me as far as just the last week and how it went down, but obviously it’s really really exciting and I’m thrilled. It’s crazy."

    The hiring caps a long struggle for the founder of the Asian Coaches Association, who started off as director of operations for Columbia before assuming the defensive coordinator roles at Campbell, San Francisco, and UC Riverside.

    When coach David Patrick left for an assistant coaching job at Arkansas, the 41-year old got his chance which he said is a boost for all Asian coaches in the US.

    "When I first got into coaching, I was so blind. If I knew there’s a thousand resumes on (Columbia head coach) Kyle Smith’s desk just for that director of operations job, I would have freaked out. I really had no idea what a college coaching staff was and I just like I want to volunteer, I wanna get in like," he said.

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    "What ends up happening is a lot of the Asians in coaching, at least in the past, get stuck in that director of operations role and they don’t get this opportunity to coach and recruit. They are the minority of the minorities here. In men’s basketball coaching, there are no Asians or there are very little.

    "But just the way I’ve been in life and just the way my parents raised me, my dad and mom always said chase your dream, believe in yourself and I’m proud to be Filipino. I think we are awesome. I think we are great, so I never let those barriers stop me."

    Although he's still on cloud nine, Magpayo has since buckled down to work.

    "It’s just been crazy, as you can imagine. Just trying to make sure we retain all of our guys, jelling with the team, and just telling all the parents and basically re-recruiting them and telling them to be recommitted to the program," he said.

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    "We got a 100-percent retention rate, which is the biggest and most important part because we really have a really, really good team actually."

    UC Riverside went 17-15 last season and wound up sixth in the Big West Conference, which marked the school's most Division I wins in a year.

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      As he embarks on this new journey, Magpayo is most grateful to one man.

      "This is coach Patrick, who has now become one of my best friends and mentor and the guy who have made all these happen. I owe him my life for making this happen for me," he said.

      "Over the last few years, I’ve been his right-hand man so I’ve gone really comfortable. It kinda gave me the confidence to realize that, 'Ok, I can lead these guys,' and there’s a good connection between us."

      d the guy who have made all this happen. I owe him my life for making this happen for me," he said. "Over the last few years, I’ve been his right-hand man so I’ve gone really comfortable. It kinda gave me the confidence to realize that, 'Ok, I can lead these guys,' and there’s a good connection between us."

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      PHOTO: gohighlanders.com
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