Rajko Toroman is finally back in the Philippines to resume his coaching career.
The noted Serbian mentor said he considers the country as his second home so he is more than excited to serve as consultant of both College of Saint Benilde in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association.
“It’s like a second home. I have a house in Manila just like I have a house in Belgrade,” said Toroman during the latest episode of Down To The Wire podcast on Tuesday night.
“It’s a different time now, since the last time I was involved here was already 10 years ago. A lot of things have happened since then.”
Toroman was the original architect of the Gilas Pilipinas program.
Under him, the national squad — then known as Smart Gilas — made a lot of heads turn in various international events. The program was supposed to reach its peak but Chot Reyes replaced him in 2012.
He made a brief return to the Philippine Basketball Association via Petron and Barako Bull before packing his bags for Serbia.
Toroman, however, resurfaced a few years later as his Indonesian squad beat Gilas in the gold medal match of the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi in 2021.
Toroman said he had seen how Philippine basketball had progressed as Gilas were able to compete in the last three editions of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
“Size is not a problem anymore for Philippine basketball. A lot of positive things happened for Philippine basketball, maybe some of the fans were disappointed with the Gilas games, but they came close against the world (powerhouse teams),” he said.
