MIKE Magpayo made history by becoming the first coach of Asian and Filipino descent to be named as a head coach of a Division 1 school in the US NCAA following his hiring by UC Riverside.
But the Fil-Am coach isn't ruling out the possibility of one day, coaching here in the Philippines.
Actually, he almost did.
Magpayo told Coaches Unfiltered that back in 2015, he was looking for job opportunities here in the country and even got to observe a few national team practices.
"That’s why I went down there in 2015. Paolo (Layug) was supposed to be my agent down there. That’s my dream and I really did go out there," he said.
"When I went down there, I wanted to learn the landscape so I went to the national team practice, and Tab Baldwin was the coach at the time. I watched a couple of those practices and then Josh Reyes allowed me to watch their practice so I can understand it."
Magpayo was then coming off a stint as a lead recruiter at Columbia and helped the Lions secure the commitments of Luke Petrasek and German guard Maodo Lo.
He just moved to Campbell University as a defensive coordinator when he made the trip to the country.
Magpayo did link up with a few local coaches, although nothing really came out of it.
His career did blossom in the United States, enjoying success at Campbell and University of San Francisco as director of operations before UC Riverside hired him as an assistant to David Patrick in 2018.
He was recently elevated to head coach after Patrick was hired as the associate head coach at Arkansas.
Still, it remains a dream for Magpayo to be able to coach here in the country - so much so that he looks up to former Gilas Pilipinas mentor Chot Reyes.
"I love coach Chot. I don’t know him personally, but I follow him and I read some of his leadership stuff. That’s my dream. I’d love to just be a part of it," he said. "I’ve always told Josh Reyes that if he needs help, I’d love to just help and be a part of it."
Besides, Magpayo's parents have been incessant in prodding him to stay in the Philippines.
"My dad and mom, they love for me to go there and they’re always trying to talk me into it and they’re still trying to talk me to moving back home. They would love for me to coach out there and they would love it. They have a condo right in the middle of Makati and they’d love me out there and I would definitely be open," he said.
Magpayo isn't closing any doors and as much as he loves his job with the Highlanders, the future is never certain.
Who knows, right?
"I always say it’s gonna happen one day, everybody gets fired. The only guy that has never gotten fired is (Gregg) Popovich, maybe. Everybody gets fired, Phil Jackson got fired," he said.
"So when I get fired, we’re going out there and try to get a job in the Philippines and live a beautiful life and be around other family that we have. I definitely would consider it."
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