Before his influence on Philippine basketball was characterized by the Northern Consolidated Cement program's success on the international stage -- and later, by Hall of Fame-worthy careers in Philippine basketball -- the late Eduardo 'Danding' Cojuangco Jr.'s clout first manifested when he first injected some much-needed attention and consideration into amateur basketball.
"The PBA was strong at the time, and he wanted the amateur game to rise again. Everything was concentrated in the PBA," coach Jong Uichico, a member of the NCC youth team that won the 1982 Asian Basketball Juniors Championship, told ESPN5.com. "Nag-flourish ulit 'yung amateur basketball because of the works of boss Danding."
Cojuangco's success with amateur talents may initially have had more to do with the circumstances at the time.
Former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos appointed the late tycoon as the country's project director for basketball and tasked him to build and finance a national team capable of competing at the highest level internationally, but a FIBA rule that restricted professionals from playing meant that Cojuangco had to get creative.
Add that to the fact that some of the best amateurs in recent years had already made the jump to the PBA, and one can see why Cojuangco, who passed away Wednesday, immediately moved to consolidate the best talents available.
"He was more concentrated in the amateurs rather than the PBA because the PBA was already established at the time, and the amateur game was kind of dwindling. He wanted some attention naman to be transferred or be kept sa amateur level," Uichico explained.
It wasn't until after a tepid reaction from Filipino fans after an import-laden NCC team topped the 1981 William Jones Cup that Cojuangco went all-in on developing amateurs.
Nearly a year after an NCC team made up of players from the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) captured gold in the Southeast Asian Games, an amateur core composed of Uichico, Leo Austria, Derrick Pumaren, and Hector Calma, among others, were coached by legend coach Ron Jacobs to a gold in the 1982 ABC Juniors Championship.
"All-out talaga siya. He not only wants to see you win, but he also wants everybody to succeed," said Uichico. "Of course he wants to win, who doesn't? But he puts premium on the effort that you put out in a single game."
Uichico continued: "When he sees his team play hard and do the best they can and they lose, you will not hear anything from him because you did the best that you can. Masaya siya na he sees the effort coming out. He puts premium on that and not necessarily on the end result. Of course he'll feel bad that we lost, but he puts premium on the effort."
A speed bump came in 1983, when two wins by the Philippines in the ABC Championships were forfeited due to the supposed ineligibility of naturalized players Jeff Moore and Dennis Still, but that only led to more wins down the road as Cojuangco continued to tap into his deep well of assets to bankroll the growth of amateurs.
"Being a collegiate player at the time, it was a shock for me. Ang laki ng quarters namin, ang sarap ng pagkain. Pero nakapasok sa mind namin na ang trabaho namin dito is mag-practice, mag-basketball, magpahinga and to prepare ourselves," Allan Caidic, who made the 1985 NCC teams that played in FIBA World Interclub and the PBA Reinforced Conference, said on An Eternity of Basketball. "Makikita mo na well-prepared kami -- physically, mentally, 'yung toughness nandoon tapos supported kami sa kung ano needs namin."
"Malaki rin (ang sweldo). Halos hindi nagkakalayo ang sweldo namin sa PBA. Tapos kapag nasa ibang bansa kami, ang allowance namin $100 a day," said Ricky Relosa, who was a reserve on the NCC team that competed in the 1981 Jones Cup. "Magaling mag-alaga ng players si boss Danding. Talagang saludo ako, talagang aalagaan ka. Kaya lang kailangan ang loyalty mo, nandoon din."
Cojuangco's very personal, centralized approach to management made playing for NCC as an amateur "an ideal situation."
"It was his brother, boss Henry (Cojuangco), who was really in the day-to-day activities of the national team. He was there every day in practice. But that's good because he was (Danding's) alter ego. Walang masyadong paikot-pikot. Parang nandoon din siya," said Uichico.
"And every now and then, he was really hands-on because he goes to practice even after his busy schedule, he watches the games and he gets to talk to the players. At maski boss siya, even level because you're in the basketball court," he added. "He's just there behind the scenes just watching the practice, not necessarily stopping the practice because sometimes, when the boss comes in, practice stops out of courtesy. It's a good feeling every time the boss comes into the practice and he says hi, asks how you're doing. And that's him."
Aside from his support of alma mater De La Salle University later on at the turn of the century, Cojuangco's affinity for the amateur game also extended past NCC as the patron founded the Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL), which served as the immediate replacement for the defunct MICAA. In the inaugural tournament that served as a dry-run, 37 teams from the collegiate and commercial ranks participated.
"All the provinces, naglaro lahat. Libre lahat. Daming nanonood sa Rizal Memorial Stadium noong championship. It was a good amateur program. Kaya lang magastos talaga. Pero 'yung mga taong nanonood, marami. Grabe," Uichico recalled.
Under Cojuangco's care, amateurs who would turn out to be future PBA legends pushed NCC to greater heights alongside some of Asia's best.
The Philippines went on to top the 1984 Asian Interclub Championship in Malaysia before flying to Gerona, Spain for the Club World Cup. In 1985, NCC had a banner year and ruled the Jones Cup, swept Manila Beer in the Third Conference as a guest team, and clinched another gold medal in the SEA Games.
Its last and biggest win came in the 1985 ABC Championship, when the Philippines completed an unbeaten six-game run to the title to emerge as Asia's kings. It was also the last time the country topped the regional tournament.
NCC's glorious run came to an end shortly after that as the 1986 People Power Revolution deposed Marcos and forced the dictator and Cojuangco to go into exile, but the program's beneficiaries went on to make a name for themselves as legend players and coaches in the PBA.
In a lengthy Facebook post, nine-time PBA champion, Hall of Famer and PBA's 25 Greatest Players member Ricardo Brown, who played for Cojuangco in NCC and De La Salle University, credits the late businessman for bringing him home.
"If you ask me to give you 3 descriptive words that would express my feelings for the Boss, they would be Respect, Admiration, and Loyalty. Those sentiments remained and my loyalty to the Boss never waned even though I would never play for him again," he wrote.
"Without Boss Danding, there is no RB23. I owe him so much because he dramatically changed my life. Mr. Cojuangco did more than provide me a chance to play basketball in The Philippines. The Boss brought me home."
Uichico, who briefly coached La Salle teams before securing his place alongside the PBA's coaching greats by winning nine titles and two Coach of the Year awards, said he learned a lot about the intangibles of being a professional after playing in NCC and working with Cojuangco.
"After playing for NCC, I never really thought about coaching or playing as a profession. I didn't want to. I never thought of it when I was younger. But in hindsight, it's good that I was part of the NCC program because of the things that I've learned under coach Ron, under boss ECJ, under boss Henry," he said.
"In hindsight, it really helped me a lot because of the experience that I've gained in international competitions, how a team is run, how a team I think should be run, and how a personal touch will go a long way with the player -- not necessarily the Xs and the Os, but the intangibles," added Uichico.
Cojuangco's work with the amateurs and the NCC program, according to Uichico, also set a positive precedent in building success through continuity in the national basketball program.
"Ideally, dapat ganun talaga because everybody has to stay together. Some players from La Salle before played in Asian Youth, and some Asian Youth members joined the men's basketball team. Nakita mo 'yung transition, tuloy-tuloy," he said. "I'm not saying the players will come from only one school. It could be from the youth team to the men's team. Just like Iran, most of its core came from the Asian Youth team. Tuloy-tuloy sila. Biruin mo, until a few years back magkakasama pa sila."
"But we all know that there will always be some limitations or some constraints for that to happen again. It's expensive, and you need to have the buy-in of everybody. And of course, the amateur players also, we deferred going to the PBA," he said. "It will always be the blueprint because it's been successful."