MANILA, Philippines – The champion mentor has been selected by NLEX as their new PBA coach for Season 49.

The statement was made on Friday by the Road Warriors management, who also expressed gratitude to previous coach Frankie Lim for his tenure with the team.

NLEX Governor Ronald Dulatre issued a statement expressing gratitude to Coach Frankie Lim for his dedication to the Road Warriors, acknowledging his contributions to the team. Additionally, Dulatre extended thanks to Coach Jong Uichico for accepting the challenge to lead the Road Warriors as they begin preparations for the upcoming PBA season.

After taking Yeng Guiao’s place at NLEX, Lim finished with a 22-29 record in four conferences, missing the playoffs twice.

In the current Philippine Cup, Lim led the Road Warriors to the quarterfinals, but the Meralco Bolts won their best-of-three series against them.

Uichico, 61, became a member of NLEX’s coaching staff during the Commissioner’s Cup, which kicked off the season.

NLEX Corporation President and General Manager Luigi Bautista stated, “The NLEX Road Warriors are excited to embark on this new journey with coach Jong Uichico. He brings a wealth of experience to the squad and a clear idea of what it takes to win a championship as the fourth-winningest coach in PBA history.”

Nine PBA championships are owned by Uichico; the last one he won was in the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup when he was still a member of the TNT Tropang Giga. In the past, he led San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra to individual league titles.

In addition, he has been a longstanding part of the Gilas Pilipinas coaching staff and the head of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Coaches Academy.

Uichico was a member of the Gilas coaching team that took home gold in both the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, and the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.

Coach Jong Uichico

Born on July 15, 1962, Coach Joseph Enrique “Jong” Floro Uichico is a Filipino professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the Philippine Basketball Association’s NLEX Road Warriors at the moment. Before succeeding Ron Jacobs as SMB coach in 1999, Uichico was a player and head coach for the La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP. He also served as a member of the Philippine national team’s youth division. From 1999 until 2006, Uichico was the San Miguel Beermen’s coach, and during that time, the team won six PBA titles.

During his tenure as coach of the Green Archers in the mid-1990s, Uichico led the team to two runners-up championships. He also joined the coaching team of Magnolia Beverage Masters under Norman Black and Jacobs. Following Jacobs’ resignation in 1999, Uichico took over as the Beermen’s new head coach.

He led the Beermen to the Commissioner and Governors Cup championships in the 1999 season, bringing an end to San Miguel’s five-year title drought following an early elimination in the All-Filipino Cup. In addition, he is the only rookie coach to guide his side to consecutive championships in a single season; Siot Tanquingcen did the same in 2005.

On August 3, 2006, Uichico was demoted as one of Uichico’s assistants, and the San Miguel Corporation reassigned Uichico to San Miguel’s sister team, the Barangay Ginebra Kings, in place of Chot Reyes, the new head coach of the San Miguel Beermen.

The coaches of the Meralco Bolts, NLEX Road Warriors, and Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters were reorganized by The MVP group on July 9, 2014, with Norman Black taking over as head coach of the former and Uichico taking over as head coach of the latter.

Due to scheduling conflicts between the two tournaments, Uichico led the Philippine national team that competed at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games rather than Chot Reyes, who coached the Philippine squad that played in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.

Watch Coach Jong Uichico with NLEX as they face the upcoming season of 2024 afresh.