Ronald Jacobs (December 27, 1942 – December 24, 2015) was an American basketball coach. Jacobs was head coach of the men's basketball team of Loyola Marymount University. After turning the program around in just one season, he was invited by Philippine businessman Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. to coach the Philippines men's national basketball team. Jacobs brought the Philippines back to prominence in basketball during the 1980s. He revolutionized the way basketball was played in the Philippines. He raised the level of technology in playing the game and turned every contest into a learning experience by showing how to win with science, hard work, team play and discipline. Career Loyola Marymount Jacobs was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year for piloting the Loyola Marymount's basketball varsity to the NCAA Tournament in 1980. He had turned the program around in just a season from a lowly 5-21 pushover to a legitimate contender. Jacobs became an overnight hero at the Loyola Marymount campus in Los Angeles and there emerged a popular clamor for him to take over as athletic director. This did not sit well with some in the school's Board of Trustees. Jacobs eventually left the university, exasperated by the politics that smeared his name. Philippines As Jacobs reassessed his future, an invitation to visit Manila fell on his lap. Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. was appointed project director for basketball by Ferdinand Marcos. Having effectively sidelined then FIBA and BAP President Gonzalo "Lito" Puyat, Cojuangco sent BAP secretary-general Honesto Mayoralgo to the US to look for an American coach who could reinvigorate the sport in the Philippines. Mayoralgo was an Ateneo graduate who tapped his contacts in Jesuit schools to seek recommendations and was pointed at Jacobs' direction. Jacobs came to the Philippines in 1980 along with another NCAA coach Ben Lindsey. Cojuangco, willing to give any amount just to get any of the two coaches, was to choose who among the two top-notch coaches he would hire to run the state of affairs of Philippine basketball. The jockeying for the position intensified so deeply that the two coaches, once good friends, eventually ended up bitter at each other. Jacobs allegedly threw negative statements behind Lindsey's back and he eventually earned Cojuangco's job for the coveted and lucrative position. Lindsey left the Philippines in a huff, fueling speculations, and Jacobs stayed behind. Philippine Men's National Team (1981-1986) Jacobs's first task was