Here’s an excerpt from a story I wrote for the maiden issue of Baller about the San Miguel coaching drama last conference. It’s a look back at the career of Ato Agustin, who will make his PBA finals coaching debut this Saturday. There have been some minor edits for clarity.

ATO AGUSTIN is no stranger to the lack of loyalty of the franchise that ironically carries the tagline Iba ang May Pinagsamahan. After winning a Most Valuable Player award and several championships in seven years for San Miguel, he was unceremoniously traded in 1996. It took him 14 years to get back to the San Miguel bench, and he had to climb his way up to do it.

Agustin has been the hottest name in the coaching ranks outside the PBA, despite debuting as head coach only last year. Not much was expected from the Stags when he took over; the team had not only missed the Final Four for the third straight year, it also lost its two best players, center Jason Ballesteros and gunner Jim Viray.

But he turned the Stags into college basketball’s biggest surprise. They dominated the NCAA tournament, opening with 15 straight wins, before sweeping three-time defending champions San Beda in the best-of-three finals.

To prove that the win was no fluke, Agustin led the Stags to championships in the CHEd National Games and the FilOil Flying V Preseason Cup, as well as a title in the Philippine Basketball League, where San Sebastian played under the ExcelRoof banner.

That he was so successful so soon in his coaching career – prior to his appointment, Agustin hadn’t had any high-level coaching job, even as an assistant – surprised basketball observers as much as the fact that his team won with him preaching unselfishness and defense, two things that he wasn’t particularly known for during his playing career.

But that Agustin was winning championships shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. After all, winning is what he has done throughout his whole career.

Agustin made his PBA debut for San Miguel in 1989 as an unheralded second-round draft pick, on a team that featured superstars such as Mon Fernandez, Samboy Lim, Hector Calma, and even a fading Ricky Brown coached by Norman Black. He watched from the bench as his team won the Grand Slam, only the second franchise to do so in PBA history.

He wasn’t stuck on the bench for long, as Black called on Agustin to carry the load, after his more famous teammates suffered from injuries. He stepped up and blossomed steadily, winning Most Improved Player in 1991 and Most Valuable Player the following year. He led the Beermen to three more titles in the early ‘90s, including All-Filipino championships in 1992 and 1994, this time as a starter and a star.

Age and injuries, however, forced San Miguel to undergo rebuilding, and Agustin was shipped to Pop Cola in 1996. This marked the second half of his basketball career, which he would spend as a basketball nomad, while coaches and observers openly wondered if he still had anything left in the tank.

AGUSTIN’S WINNING WAYS, however, did not stop despite leaving San Miguel. After a short stint with Pop Cola, he made the jump to the newly-formed Metropolitan Basketball Association, joining his hometown Pampanga Dragons. Seemingly rejuvenated by playing in front of his cabalens, Agustin led Pampanga to the first MBA national title in 1998.

Unfortunately, the honeymoon did not last long, as the Dragons franchise began to experience financial difficulty. Agustin found himself back in the PBA, first with Sta. Lucia and then with Red Bull. Before retiring in 2001, he played an instrumental role in Red Bull’s Commissioner’s Cup title run, his last PBA championship coming ironically at the expense of the San Miguel Beermen.

He did not stop playing basketball after retiring from the PBA. While his superstar colleagues from the early ‘90s San Miguel teams, Lim, Calma, and Allan Caidic, were given cushy management and coaching jobs in San Miguel’s PBA operations upon retirement, Agustin went back on the court, accepting gigs as an import in semi-pro tournaments in places as far-flung as Brunei.

He also ended up, like many retired PBA players, throwing his hat into the political ring – should it come as any surprise that he won? – and he currently sits on the San Fernando, Pampanga city council.

His involvement with Pampanga politics, as well as his sports icon status in the province, perhaps led to his big coaching break with San Sebastian. The Stags’ biggest supporter is Dennis Pineda, a member of an influential Pampanga political clan, and he handpicked Agustin to coach the team, despite the latter’s lack of big-game coaching experience.

Agustin’s success with San Sebastian turned a lot of heads, including those of San Miguel’s top management. His entry into the Beermen fold marked a sort of homecoming. Just like he did as a player, Agustin earned his spot in San Miguel as a coach through merit and sheer pluck.

The second issue of Baller is still available at National Bookstore outlets and at the PBA game venues.