Rodericko Cesar "Olsen" Escueta Racela (born November 1, 1970) is a Filipino coach and former player. He is both the head coach for the

Perpetual Altas The Perpetual Altas and Lady Altas, or the UPHSD Altas and Lady Altas, are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) teams of the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA. They are also popularly known as the Perps. Since join ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, and is an assistant coach for the

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distiller ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA). He played for 18 seasons during his PBA career. He was also a notable member of the

Philippine national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

on many occasions.

Early life

Olsen Racela, born on November 1 in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, was so named because he was born on All Saint's Day (his brother Nash was born on Bonifacio Day). As a young boy, he started playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

early in his life. It was just a simple game for Olsen back then, which consisted of a couple of shots through a hoop in his old neighborhood. Among his brothers, he proved to have the prodigious basketball skills which gave him a spot in Ateneo de Manila University's varsity team.

Amateur career

Racela played for the

Ateneo Blue Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The Ateneo collegiate ...

in a backup role to Jun Reyes and was a member of the Blue Eagles team that won the UAAP title in 1988. He also played in the Philippine Amateur Basketball League and the RP Youth Team.

PBA career

Purefoods

In 1993, Racela was selected 14th by Purefoods in the 1993 PBA Rookie Draft. From 1993 to 1996, he played the backup role to Dindo Pumaren and won two titles with the Purefoods franchise under a limited role with the team.

San Miguel Beermen

In 1997, Racela was traded to the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

for merely two second round picks for the succeeding three years beginning 1998. This became the turnaround of his young career. Under new San Miguel head coach Ron Jacobs, Racela's skills were noticed under a rebuilding Beermen squad of Nelson Asaytono, Freddie Abuda and Mike Mustre. In 1998, Racela's game would improve and was rewarded with a spot on the

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who leads Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Philippine men's national team. He is the most accomplished coa ...

-coached Philippine Centennial Team that took home a bronze medal in the 1998 Asian Games in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. A season later, with Racela as its top point guard, San Miguel became the league's new dynasty under

Jong Uichico Joseph Enrique "Jong" Floro Uichico (born July 15, 1962) is a Filipino professional basketball coach who is currently serving as the head coach of NLEX Road Warriors in the Philippine Basketball Association. Uichico is a former Philippine nati ...

, winning five titles from 1999 to 2001.

2002 Busan Asiad

He made his second stint in the national team in 2002 for the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. With Racela as point guard, the Nationals made it all the way through the semifinals against host South Korea. In the final minute, Racela scored a three-pointer to give the Philippines the lead. However, after recovering the possession and was fouled, he missed two crucial free throws that could have given the country a four-point lead. Instead, Lee Sang Min's buzzer-beating triple gave the Koreans a dramatic 69-68 victory. Some argued that the blame rested on Jong Uichico's coaching strategy in which he did not set up a plan to ease Racela's pressure from the 15 foot line. Despite the missed free-throws, Racela continued to shine in his point guard duties with San Miguel. In 2004, he dished his 2,000th career assist and was the starting point guard when the Beermen won another title in the 2005 PBA Fiesta Conference. Starting in the 2007-08 All Filipino Conference, Racela occasionally played off the bench in preparation for his retirement and later life as an assistant coach. On August 11, 2010, Racela became the fifth player alongside Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Abet Guidaben &

Philip Cezar Philip Dudley Cezar (born December 1, 1952) is a Filipino former basketball coach, player and politician. Known by the monikers "Mr. Stretch", "''Tapal'' King" and "The Scholar", he was part of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers ballclub of the Phi ...

to play at least 900 games in the PBA.

League's oldest active player and retirement

After PBA legend

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, ...

announced his retirement, Racela played for another season with San Miguel. He turned 40 on November 1, 2010, and was the senior statesman of the PBA during that season. He announced his retirement on January 28, 2011, at the

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...

at the start of Game 4 of the finals. He had played the entire finals series before he hanged up his #17 jersey in which Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters subdued

in 6 games.

PBA career statistics

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Coney Island / Purefoods , 43 , , 8.3 , , .514 , , .333 , , .700 , , .9 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , Coney Island / Purefoods , 62 , , 15.6 , , .479 , , .444 , , .661 , , .9 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.7 , - , align=left , , align="left" , Purefoods , 59 , , 24.8 , , .502 , , .222 , , .851 , , 1.7 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 6.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , Purefoods , 58 , , 22.6 , , .454 , , .115 , , .795 , , 1.5 , , 3.0 , , .8 , , .1 , , 6.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 62 , , 40.0 , , .439 , , .316 , , .876 , , 1.8 , , 4.7 , , .7 , , .1 , , 11.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 49 , , 38.2 , , .455 , , .292 , , .847 , , 2.8 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 8.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 53 , , 34.2 , , .399 , , .233 , , .843 , , 2.3 , , 3.6 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 58 , , 32.9 , , .461 , , .383 , , .839 , , 2.3 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 9.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 70 , , 34.3 , , .395 , , .381 , , .871 , , 2.2 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .0 , , 10.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 12 , , 26.2 , , .384 , , .294 , , .800 , , 1.9 , , 4.6 , , .9 , , .2 , , 9.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 50 , , 32.5 , , .417 , , .373 , , .865 , , 3.0 , , 4.8 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 10.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 78 , , 34.0 , , .398 , , .354 , , .827 , , 2.2 , , 5.3 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 11.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 43 , , 32.6 , , .367 , , .305 , , .863 , , 2.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 8.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 62 , , 26.3 , , .373 , , .286 , , .872 , , 2.3 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 8.5 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, 47 , , 20.0 , , .426 , , .391 , , .912 , , 1.6 , , 2.5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 56 , , 20.0 , , .387 , , .327 , , .828 , , 1.9 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 39 , , 11.0 , , .393 , , .328 , , .833 , , .8 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .0 , , 3.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 24 , , 12.0 , , .344 , , .303 , , .875 , , .8 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 3.0 , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan="2" , Career , 925 , , 27.0 , , .419 , , .334 , , .841 , , 1.9 , , 3.3 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.8

Coaching career

On December 20, 2016, FEU announced the hiring of Racela as the head coach of the FEU Tamaraws men's basketball team in the UAAP. He replaced his brother Nash, who was appointed as the head coach of the PBA team TNT Katropa. This also serves as his first head coaching job in a varsity basketball team.

Coaching record

Collegiate record

PBA

Personal life

Racela's nickname was based on the day of his birth as it was during All-Saints Day. His brother, Raoul Cesar or Nash Racela, is currently the head coach of the Adamson Soaring Falcons and the former head coach of the

FEU Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws and Lady Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The university's high school varsity teams are called the ''FEU-D Baby Tamaraws, Baby Tamaraws'' ...

who were champions in the

UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...

. Nash also coached the

Batangas Blades The Batangas Blades (or the LBC-Batangas Blades) were a professional basketball team of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association from 1998 to 2002. Its moniker was taken from the province's popularity in making Balisong (a Filipino-ma ...

in the

Metropolitan Basketball Association The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), also shortened as Metroball, was a professional basketball league in the Philippines that ran for five seasons from 1998 until 2002. The MBA was established to rival the Philippine Basketball Asso ...

. Olsen has 3 children namely Ryan, Raya, and Rafa. He is a cousin of former Blue Eagle and San Beda heas coach Yuri Escueta.

Basketball career

School leagues

*1984: Ateneo de Manila - PAYA Aspirants *1985: Ateneo de Manila - PAYA Juniors *1986 Ateneo de Manila -

Juniors *1987-1992: Ateneo de Manila -

Seniors

Philippine Basketball League

*1989:

Crispa Redmanizers The Crispa Redmanizers were a multi-titled Filipino basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1984. It was one of the nine founding teams of the PBA, winning a total of thirteen PBA championships, ...

*1990-1991: A&W Rootbeers *1992: Pop Cola

Philippine Basketball Association

* 1993–1996: Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs * 1997–2011:

National teams

*1987 Asian Youth 18 years and below,

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

*1989 ABC Under-18 Championship,

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

*1998 Asian Games, Thailand *1998 Jones Cup, Taipei *2002 Asian Games,

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, South Korea

Awards and achievements

Philippine Basketball Association

* 1993 Mr. Quality Minutes * 1998-1999 2-time Mythical Second Team * 2000-2001 2-time Mythical First Team * 2000-01, 2003–04, 2006 5-time All-Star * 2002-2003 Mythical Second team * 2004 21st member of 2000-Assist Club * 2010 5th member of 900 Games club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Racela, Olsen 1970 births Living people Asian Games bronze medalists for the Philippines Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1998 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games Filipino men's basketball coaches Filipino men's basketball players Filipino Roman Catholics Filipino television sportscasters Magnolia Hotshots players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars San Miguel Beermen coaches Philippine Basketball Association players with retired numbers Philippines men's national basketball team players Point guards San Miguel Beermen players Basketball players from Quezon City Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball players Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Magnolia Hotshots draft picks Magnolia Hotshots coaches Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coaches FEU Tamaraws basketball coaches Perpetual Altas basketball coaches 20th-century Filipino sportsmen