FORMER Ateneo varsity basketball standout Matthew “Fritz” Gaston has been appointed as the fourth commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission, completing the five-man board of the agency, according to Commissioner Bong Coo.
“Gaston’s appointment papers are with PSC chairman Richard Bachmann and I was informed that he will pay a courtesy call to the chairman tomorrow (Friday). Most probably, he will be formally introduced to the PSC personnel during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday,” Coo said yesterday.
In his sixties, Gaston joins Bachmann, Coo, Walter Torres and Edward Hayco as board members of the government sports agency, nine months after President Marcos Jr. was sworn into office.
Gaston played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles, who emerged as back-to-back NCAA champions in 1975 and 1976.
He suited up for the 1977 national youth basketball team that also included Ateneo teammates Steve Watson and Joy Carpio.
He was a PBA champion with the U/Tex Wranglers when they won the 1980 All-Filipino Conference crown with the help of imports Glenn McDonald and Aaron James, plus stars Lim Eng Beng and Bogs Adornado.
Gaston also had stints San Miguel Beer (1983), Crispa (1984), Manila Beer (1985) and Great Taste (1986).
As a coach, Gaston steered the Ateneo Blue Eagles to their first UAAP men’s basketball crown in Season 50 (1988), highlighted by a pulsating 94-92 in the one-game finals over the UE Red Warriors. Ateneo earned a twice-to-beat edge in the finals after topping the elimination round with a 13-1 win-loss record while UE wound up second with a 10-4 slate.
He also piloted the national women’s basketball team to the bronze medal in the 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games in the Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima.
