OLYMPIAN, PBA pioneer, and champion coach Jimmy Mariano passed away on Sunday afternoon after a lingering illness.
He was 84.
A deadly lefty shooter and among the early big men who can shoot from long range, Mariano was the flag carrier of the Philippine team that competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics, the last time the men’s basketball squad played in the Summer Games.
READ Last Philippine basketball team to play in Olympics honored
Four-time PBA MVP Ramon Fernandez was among the first to honor his former national teammate, calling Mariano 'one of the true pillars of the game."
"The game is better because you played it," Fernandez added of Mariano, who was also honored with a final buzzer in Sunday night's PBA game between Rain or Shine and Converge.
A product of University of the East under revered coach Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan, Mariano won two UAAP championships with the Red Warriors as a player in 1960 and 1962.
He was also team captain of the 1973 national squad that won the ABC Men’s Championship (now known as the FIBA Asia Cup), which was the last all-homegrown unit to win the title and served in the same capacity for the Philippines in the 1974 FIBA World Cup in Puerto Rico.
Mariano was with the national team that regained the gold in the 1967 ABC Men's Championship in Seoul, South Korea, a stint that earned for the country a berth in the 1968 Mexico Olympics where he first played as an Olympian.
Following his distinguished amateur career, he became among the pioneers of the Philippine Basketball Association, suiting up for ballclubs such as Carrier, Seven-Up and Filmanbank.
After his retirement, he moved to coaching and steered the University of the East to back-to-back UAAP championships in 1984 and 1985, marking the last time his alma mater won in the country's one of two major collegiate leagues.
Later he took his act to the PBA and led the Presto franchise to the last of its six PBA titles during the 1990 All-Filipino conference.
Mariano was also responsible for giving the Red Bull franchise its first championship in the Philippine Basketball League when he guided the team to a title during the 1996 All-Filipino tournament.
He averaged 14.4 points an outing in 176 games as a pro, showcasing his offensive prowess as a player.
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