Lauro "The Fox" Mumar (March 6, 1924 – December 20, 1990) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and later served as the national team head coach of

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and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He was one of the greatest Filipino players of his time, playing alongside compatriot legend

Carlos Loyzaga Carlos "Caloy" Matute Loyzaga (August 29, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was a Filipino basketball player and coach. He was the most dominant basketball player of his era in the Philippines and is considered as the greatest Filipino basketball playe ...

. He is the father of Lawrence "Larry" Mumar (30 November 1946 – 23 October 2001) who was also a basketball player. He is the grandfather of L. A. Mumar, Vico Sotto's half-brother.

Career

Early years

In 1946, he led the San Carlos College of

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

to the first post-war Inter-Collegiate basketball championship. He later moved to Manila to play for the varsity team of

Letran College The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...

where he led the squad nicknamed "Murder Inc." to the 1950 NCAA Philippines championship title. Mumar also led the Manila Ports Terminal that won the

Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association The Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) was a sports association which existed in Manila, Philippines from 1938 to 1981. Throughout its existence, it staged various sports and was participated by prominent Philippine co ...

(MICAA) championship.

International career

He played for the Philippines that finished 12th in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

held at

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. He later went on to represent the country in the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and 1954 Asian Games to win two gold medals.

1954 FIBA World Championship

Mumar was banned for life to play for the national team by the

Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) was the governing body of sports in the Philippines and the predecessor of the Philippine Olympic Committee. History The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation was organized in a permanent basis ...

when he failed to join the rest of the

1954 FIBA World Championship The 1954 FIBA World Championship (also called the 2nd World Basketball Championship – 1954) was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Ginásio do Maracanãzinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil fr ...

national squad that left Manila for the United States where the team was set to play tune up games. This led to a national controversy where his ban was discussed in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and it was found out that he was in Bohol waiting for pocket money from his parents, which never arrived to be able to go to the capital. President

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957. An automo ...

talked with PAAF officials to overturn the ban and was successful. Mumar was then able to join the rest of the team in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The national squad flew to Cuba and participated in the scrimmage against that country's national team. They won 49-45 over Cuba which was regarded as an upset by the home team. Cuba decided not to participate in the world tournament after the loss. The Philippines finished third and captured the bronze medal, the best finish ever by the country in the World Championships losing only to the United States and Brazil.

Coaching career

When he retired from playing basketball he went on to coaching. He has called the shots in collegiate basketball with FEATI,

UST UST or Ust may refer to: Organizations * UST (company), American digital technology company * Equatorial Guinea Workers' Union * Union of Trade Unions of Chad (Union des Syndicats du Tchad) * United States Television Manufacturing Corp. * UST Gr ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. In the commercial leagues, he was the head coach of Mariwasa,

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...

, U/Tex, Seven-Up, Filmanbank and Winston. While he was at the helm, Meralco won the 1971

Manila Industrial Commercial Athletic Association The Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) was a sports association which existed in Manila, Philippines from 1938 to 1981. Throughout its existence, it staged various sports and was participated by prominent Philippine co ...

title winning over Crispa in the final. Mumar coached the Philippine national team to a third-place finish in the 1969 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship (now

FIBA Asia Championship The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. Through the 2015 edition, the tourna ...

) in Bangkok. After his sole stint with the national team he went to India to teach basketball in the state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

along with American coaches. He was later named head coach of the Indian national team.

Later years and legacy

In 1981, Mumar worked as a panel analyst with Dick Ildefonso for the PBA games on MBS-4. He was also a radio TV commentator with

Joe Cantada Jose J. Cantada, better known as "Smokin'" Joe Cantada, (March 15, 1942 – March 22, 1992) was a Filipino TV host, anchor & commentator. He died of lung cancer in March 1992. He distinguished himself with his smooth baritone voice and his ...

covering NCAA contest in the past. In 2005, he was inducted into the Philippine Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame alongside his teammate

Awards and achievements

*1948 Summer Olympics, 12th place *1951 Asian Games, champions *1954 Asian Games, champions *1954 FIBA World Championship bronze medalist (third place) *1969 FIBA Asia Championship bronze medalist (third place) as coach *Philippine National Basketball Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mumar, Lauro Filipino men's basketball coaches National team coaches Letran Knights basketball players Basketball players from Bohol Boholano people Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of the Philippines 1924 births 1990 deaths Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1951 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1954 Asian Games Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Philippines men's national basketball team coaches Filipino expatriate basketball people in India Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Medalists at the 1951 Asian Games Medalists at the 1954 Asian Games USC Warriors basketball players 1954 FIBA World Championship players UST Growling Tigers basketball coaches U/Tex Wranglers coaches