FERNANDO 'Dong' Libed, one of the biggest heroes ever of Letran Knights basketball and at times among its tragic figures, died on Friday after a lingering illness.
He was 58.
Standing less than six feet, Libed stood 10 feet tall during the final glory years of the NCAA as the star of the Knights in a heated rivalry with a star-studded San Sebastian side led by Bong Alvarez and Eugene Quilban.
A crafty scorer, Libed was an NCAA juniors MVP with the Squires then led from the front in the Knights' run to back-to-back championships from 1986 which brought the trophy back to Intramuros after the Samboy Lim years.
Of course, the Knights guard will forever be enshrined in NCAA basketball for the fallaway jumper he hit against the Stags in the dying seconds of Game Three that clinched the 1987 title for Letran before a full-house crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
WATCH:
Sadly, basketball fans of the 80s and 90s never forget him when they draw up lists of the best college players never to make it to the PBA.
Libed played briefly for Agfa Color in the defunct PABL and was drafted in the second round at 14th overall by Anejo Rhum (now Ginebra) in the 1990 PBA draft, but never got to play in the pro league.
Libed mysteriously fell off the grid after that as friends and former teammates talked about 'personal issues.'
The same friends bared Libed has been of poor health before suffering a massive stroke that left him brain dead. He succumbed in hospital.
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