Early life
Loyzaga was born to a Basque family during World War II and he is the son of former Philippine national football team member and player Joaquin Loyzaga. After surviving the war with his mother, sister and two brothers, he attended San Beda College, where he played for the San Beda Red Lions basketball team in the Philippine NCAA. Standing at 191 cm (6 ft 3 in), he towered over most other players in the league and came to be a dominating player at the center position. Because of his shooting and rebounding ability, he quickly became a superstar in the Philippines. He led the Red Lions to consecutive NCAA championships wins in 1951 and 1952, and led them to a third and final victory over the Ateneo Blue Eagles to earn the coveted Zamora trophy in 1955.Loyzaga began his basketball career in 1942, playing for the Santa Mesa Aces whose team included Pablo and Vicente Cuna, Ramón López (the chair of the Letran Hall of Fame), Vicente Ayllon (who became president of Insular Life), and Bobby and Al Tuazon. Their coach was José Lansang. After World War II, Loyzaga played for a team called Bulldogs which was coached by Joker Faustino. He studied at the Padre Burgos Elementary School in Santa Mesa, Manila and National University for his high school.
Loyzaga was about to enroll in University of Santo Tomas (UST) for his college education but before he could wear the UST jersey, player and coach Felicisimo Fajardo took him to San Beda College to play basketball. He displayed his basketball skills at the Tervalac playground in Santa Mesa before gaining popularity in the NCAA as a member of the San Beda Red Lions in the 1950s. He also played for the club Pratra, then coached by Gabriel Fajardo. Pratra won the MICAA title in 1951.
He played college basketball for the San Beda Red Lions in the NCAA before leading the team to 49 consecutive victories in the now-defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) from 1954 to 1956. Loyzaga, a two-time Olympian was a member of the Philippine national basketball team in the 1950s and early 1960s. He help the national team into becoming one of the best in the world, winning four consecutive Asian Games gold medals and two consecutive FIBA Asia Championships.
Loyzaga’s finest moment was the 1954 FIBA World Championship where he led the Philippines to a third place finish and captured the bronze medal in the process. It is the best finish by an Asian country and the Philippines have remained the only Asian medalists in the tournament. Loyzaga himself finished as one of the tournament’s leading scorer with a 16.4 points-per-game average and was named in the tournament's All-Star selection. He retired in 1964 following a 15 year career in basketball.
