Fil-Am coach meets Jr NBA Phl All-Star

LOS ANGELES – Mark Caguioa, Alex Cabagnot and Andrew Gupilan all came from the Eagle Rock High School where they carved a name one after the other.

Caguioa later moved on to Glendale Community College, Cabagnot to University of Hawaii-Hilo and Gupilan at Whittier College.

Afterwards, Caguioa and Cabagnot pursued a pro career in the Philippines while Gupilan, a 5-foot-10 guard, opted to stay here, taking a masters course and, at the same time, starting a career in basketball coaching.

The Jr. NBA All-Star Philippine team met Gupilan during the Filipino boys’ friendly match with Maranatha High School in Pasadena Saturday.

“I like coaching,” Gupilan told The STAR as the reason why he didn’t try to follow the footsteps of Caguioa and Cabagnot in the PBA.

Two years after playing his final season with Whittier College in 2009, Gupilan joined the Poets team coaching staff while taking masters in special education and mathematics in the same school.

He sat on the Poets bench from 2011 to the early part of 2013 before moving over to Maranatha.

“During the off-season, he’s helping take care of special people. He loves doing that,” said his father Arsenio Dupilan of Naga City.

“At Maranatha, he’s more of a skills coach,” the older Dupilan said.

Like Caguioa and Cabagnot, Gupilan is a product of the Hooptown traveling basketball team in the Los Angeles area. He has played with Meralco sophomore forward Cliff Hodge and D-League player Virgil Buensuceso among others.