Basketball players all have stories to tell about their respective journeys. Some become star players while others emerge as coaches, team executives or even scouts.

For Mark Lopez, it’s different. His odyssey had turned him from being one of the country’s most exciting high school players into a coach, a teacher and, yes, a preacher to children who are dreaming of becoming the next superstars.

Lopez said his basketball gospel was influenced by two mentors: National Basketball Training Center program director Eric Alatamirano and former Far Eastern University (FEU)-Diliman head coach Sebastian “Potit” de Vera.

With De Vera, Lopez said he was with him since his time with the Baby Tamaraws and his teachings have struck him since.

‘In terms of values and coaching, he molded me to have good values and be a good role model inside and outside the basketball court,” said Lopez, who mentioned that De Vera was also with him at the University of the Philippines (UP) as an assistant coach.

Lopez also admired Altamirano, the soft-spoken mentor who is using the NBTC to discover fresh talents who are using basketball as a tool to improve their lives.In fact, Lopez was among the 80 best high school players from around the country who were selected to be part of the Nike Elite Camp, the predecessor of the NBTC in 2006.

For six days, Lopez and the best high school players like Borgie Hermida, Nico Salva, Mike Gamboa and Garvo Lanete worked hard while listening to the teachings of Altamirano and his assistant coach, Alex Compton, about basketball and life in general.

“Yeah, actually that brings a lot of memories. So that time, Coach Alex and Coach Eric were the ones who facilitated the first Nike Elite Camp,” said Lopez, who was the main man of Far Eastern University (FEU)-Diliman in high school.

“We were the first batch. We came from different schools. Borgie Hermida was there. Nico Salva, L.A. Revilla, Mike Gamboa. Garvo Lanete. Kirk Long, Dave Marcelo, Allan Mangahas and Jeff Vidal. Those are some heavy hitters.”

Little did Lopez know that joining the Nike Elite Camp was just the start as it would lead him to making a pivotal decision that would change his life forever.

Igniting a spark

After the Nike camp, Lopez played for the UP in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) from 2007 to 2012.

While his time with the Fighting Maroons was best known for celebrating bonfires for winning a game after a string of losses, Lopez believes that their batch laid out the squad’s foundation for the future.

From being a laughingstock of collegiate basketball, the Fighting Maroons suddenly transformed into one of the best collegiate programs in the country.

“If you compare their era to ours, it’s like night and day. Looking at it, we’re kind of jealous of how they are funded but looking back, we were the ones who paved the path,” said Lopez, who graduated in 2013 with a Sport Science degree.

During his UP stint, he played under veteran coaches Joe Lipa, Aboy Castro, and Ricky Dandan and teamed up with the likes of Mikee Reyes and Jett Manuel, who led UP to a UAAP finals appearance in 2018.

First steps

While competing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) D-League for Cafe France in 2013, Lopez was already serving as an assistant coach for Adamson University under Goldwin Monteverde and Hope Christian School under Stevenson Tiu.

In the same year, he was picked 40th overall by Meralco in the fifth round of the stacked PBA Rookie Draft together with the likes of Greg Slaughter, Ian Sangalang and Terrence Romeo.

But in a shocking twist, Lopez suddenly opted not to play anymore.

“I was drafted by Meralco and then decided not to play because I reached the point where I didn’t feel like touching basketball,” he said, adding that the basketball fatigue was too much for him to bear.

“I took a break for two to three years.”

After his long hiatus, Lopez joined Jumbo Plastic in the Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League in 2016 where he won his first championship as a professional player and played for Manila Stars in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League in 2019.

Between his stints in various leagues, Lopez was also an assistant coach at the Technological Institute of the Philippines-Manila from 2017 to 2020 under his former mentor De Vera.

“If you look at it, he (De Vera) was my mentor, but Coach Eric Altamirano’s platform was my goal,” Lopez said.

‘I would seek his advice since he also has his basketball academy, More Than Just Hoops.”

True calling

But it wasn’t inside the court that Lopez found his true calling.

After moving to Alabang in 2021, Lopez came up with the idea of forming his own basketball camp after seeing kids in their neighborhood enjoying the game.

“Okay, so we have a lot of club teams here. So the others are already varsity players but they don’t have foundation, no discipline, and no teaching skills,” Lopez said.

“That pushed me to teach basketball. We started with a few kids until it grew and that was how MLO Basketball was built.”

Lopez said aside from teaching the fundamentals, he also makes sure to expose the kids to club leagues on weekends. There, they develop teamwork, camaraderie, discipline and hard work that would be crucial not just in their bid to become varsity players but also to become productive kids and, soon, responsible adults.

“So we practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then if I think a kid is ready, I join them in the tournaments on the weekends,” Lopez said.

To make sure MLO Basketball keeps improving, Lopez joined Coaching U Live, a basketball seminar, in Las Vegas last year where he learned from mentors in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

There, Lopez realized that it takes more than his past experiences as a player to be a great coach.

“It’s a 12-day coaching seminar in Las Vegas.So I also attended. I also have Coach Luigi Trillo with me,” said Lopez, adding that the son of Trillo is also part of his largely successful MLO program.

“There are coaches of the NBA, there are coaches of the WNBA, and there are high school coaches.”

“Coaching U is good because it’s a collaboration and coaching is big. You can be a head coach, strength and conditioning coaching, and then there are nutritionists. Then there’s also a management side and there’s also skills training.”

Lopez admitted one of his goals is to have a full-circle moment of sending players to play in the NBTC.

“I hope that my 18-year-old and 16-year-old players will join NBTC. That’s my goal and at the same time, that’s my promise to the parents,” Lopez said.

“Even though there are no other players in the varsity, we get the same opportunities that the varsity players who played in the school. That’s my goal. MLO is not just a club.”

“What I give to my players is the same opportunities, the same training that they can get from school training also. So that’s what MLO offers.”

Lopez admitted that while he has some regrets of not continuing his career in the PBA, seeing his players steadily improve is worth it.

He also expressed gratitude to Altamirano for giving him the opportunity to join the Nike Elite Camp which now inspires him to preach the values of basketball to the next generation of players.

“To give back the knowledge, the love for basketball and to teach the kids, it brings back memories. I’m thankful for what Coach Eric did back then,” Lopez said, flashing a smile, knowing that there’s really a reason for everything, including his botched dream of becoming a PBA superstar.