Richie Ticzon

Richie Ticzon (born September 8, 1971 in Pasig City) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and coach.

Playing career

Nicknamed The Velvet Touch for his outside shooting, Ticzon played college ball at the Ateneo de Manila University and was a teammate of Olsen Racela. He was selected fourth overall by the Pepsi Mega Hotshots in the 1994 PBA draft. On draft day, he was traded to Purefoods (then known as Coney Island) alongside Pepsi’s 1995 and 1996 second round picks for Dindo Pumaren and Dwight Lago. He had his best years with the Shell Turbo Chargers (then known as Formula Shell). As a midseason signee, he shocked everyone when he teamed up with Kenny Redfield and Benjie Paras to pummel Ginebra in the semifinals of the 1996 PBA Commissioner's Cup. He would later jump to the MBA via the Cagayan de Oro Amigos, and would later return to the PBA with the Alaska Aces.^[1][2]

Coaching career

Ticzon would later turn to coaching after his playing years were over. He became an assistant coach at FEU,^[3] and would later serve as assistant to coach Junel Baculi at GlobalPort. Despite his lack of head coaching experience, team owner Mikee Romero installed him as the interim head coach for the Batang Pier after the team fired Baculi just a week before the start of the 2013-14 PBA season.^[4] In his only conference with the team, he compiled a 5-9 win-loss record and helped them reach the All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals as a seventh-seed team. He was then replaced by Pido Jarencio before the start of the next conference.^[5]

References