Ed Auricchio
Player Personnel Director
When Art "Pilin" Alvarez was named President of the ABA Miami Tropics in August of 2006, he quickly turned to his long-time friend and trusted assistant, Ed Auricchio, to run the team as head coach.
A native of Newark, N.J., Auricchio was a 6-1 power forward for Nutley High. "I was a perimeter shooter in the days before the three-point line," Auricchio said. "If we had had three-pointers, I probably would have made a lot bigger name for myself."
Even so, Auricchio earned a scholarship to Rutgers University, where he seldom played but was still around some great teams. He was there in 1976 when Rutgers made it to the Final Four before losing to Michigan.
That Rutgers team started Eddie Jordan, now the coach of the NBA Wizards; Phil Sellers, who was a No. 1 pick of the Detroit Pistons; James Bailey, a No. 1 pick of the Sonics; Hollis Copeland, who played some for the Knicks; and Mike Dabney, who played for the Celtics.
After college, Auricchio ran and coached youth basketball leagues for numerous years and was an assistant at Coral Gables High School for three years.
He then joined forces with Alvarez as an assistant at Miami Christian High, coaching there for two years. Together, they led the Victors to the 2002 state title.
That team went 38-2, set the state record for wins and boasted star players such as Jose Juan Barea, Carlos Rivera, Jesus Verdejo, Sammy Hernandez and Ivan Lopez. Barea is now in the NBA, Lopez is a pro in Puerto Rico and Rivera, Verdejo and Hernandez are all college standouts.
From there, Auricchio became Alvarez's assistant with the AAU Tropics, helping to compile a 56-8 record in two years.
Auricchio was then named the head coach of another one of the nation's top AAU programs, the South Florida Heat. In two years with the Heat, Auricchio coached Zach Peacock, now starting as a freshman at Georgia Tech; John Roberson, who has signed to play for Bobby Knight at Texas Tech; Jon Kreft, who signed with Florida State; Avery Holley, a football-basketball standout at Florida Atlantic; and Damian Hollis, a freshman standout at George Washington.
Auricchio was 64-34 in two years with the Heat. In the past ten years, 65 of the players Auricchio has coached have gone on to play college ball.
With Auricchio coaching the team, the ABA Tropics went 18-5 and were ranked third in the league.
Auricchio is now in charge of the Tropics organization's recruiting service.
Miguel Mercado
Nike Travel Team Head Coach
Miguel Mercado has long been Art "Pilin" Alvarez's right-hand man in Puerto Rico.
As Miami's Director of Scouting, he has been providing talent for the Tropics' program for years. In addition, Mercado is a legendary pro coach in Puerto Rico.
"I have always said Miguel is the Pat Riley of Puerto Rico," Alvarez said. "He is a very knowledgeable and hard-working coach. He is a key for us in finding great players for our program."
As a coach, Mercado has won three championships in the Puerto Rican pro league.
His first championship came in 1987 with Morovis. He was the first coach in Puerto Rican history to win a title in his rookie year. And at 32, he was also the youngest championship coach in league history.
Mercado followed that by winning titles in 1990 with Ponce and 1997 with San German.
With the Tropics, Mercado has helped develop many of the program's young stars, such as point guard Josue Soto of FIU, small forward Sammy Hernandez of FAU, shooting guard David Huertas of Mississippi and center Luis Colon of Kansas State.
"Miguel brings great energy to our program," Alvarez said. "He is the driving force behind our annual Hoop Dreams Camp in Miami, and he is vital to everything we do in Puerto Rico."
Carlos Parra
Nike Travel Team Assistant Coach
Parra, who has 30 years of coaching experience, joined the Tropics as an assistant on March 20, 2007.
"Carlos is an experienced coach who is very loyal to our program," Tropics President and CEO Art "Pilin" Alvarez said. "He has great contacts in Colombia and will be a huge asset to the Tropics."
Born in Bucaramanga, Colombia, Parra played soccer until falling in love with basketball as a teenager. He was good enough to play semi-pro ball and earn a spot on the national team during South American competitions.
After his playing career was over, Parra dedicated himself to studying the game, traveling as far as Spain to participate in courses and seminars on how to coach.
A talented young coach, he worked his way up the ladder and was selected as an assistant for Colombia's World Games team in 1982. With his help, Colombia finished 7th in the tournament that also featured the U.S. and other world powers.
Parra has written five books on basketball fundamentals.
From 1988 to the present, Parra has been a pro coach in Colombia.
Parra's native land of Colombia is - along with Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic - a key to the Tropics' roots in Latin America. Among the players the Tropics have discovered in Colombia and developed in Miami are center Freddy Asprilla, power forward Stuard Baldonado, small forward Juan Carlos Otero and combo forward Jairo Mendoza.
Hector Baez
Chief International Scout
Hector Baez is the Tropics' chief international scout, specializing in the Dominican Republic, where he is considered a legend.
At age 16, he was the 6-6 center on his country's national team. And in 1978, he helped the Dominicans reach the World Games in the Phillipines.
"I was a center and one of the tallest guys on the Dominican team when I started playing," said Baez, who is now 50 years old. "But when I played college, they moved me to forward. And by the time I finished my career, I was playing shooting guard or the wing."
When he retired as a player in 1993, Baez was immediately named the coach of the Dominican Republic's national team. Health concerns forced him to give up that title, but because his knowledge of the island's talent is so great, he was kept on as the team's Director of Personnel.
Now he helps find talent for the Tropics. who have had great success in the past with Dominican players such as Carlos Morban and Junior Matias.
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