John Rodney Santos (born May 30, 1973) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who is the current coach of the Mindoro Tamaraws of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is also known as The Slasher for his slashing ability going to the basket.
He currently serves as commissioner of the basketball league Sinag Liga Asya.
Collegiate career
Santos played for the San Sebastian high school and college teams from 1991 to 1995, winning the Most Valuable Player award in 1994.
Professional career
After a storied college career at San Sebastian, Santos was drafted second overall by Purefoods in the 1996 draft. Then he was traded to Alaska for
Cris Bolado and Bryant Punzalan in 1997 and became one of
Tim Cone's reliable contributors off the bench. He was re-acquired by Purefoods in 2003 as a free agent. After his stint with the TJ Hotdogs, he was then traded to Ginebra,
and was a vital cog in coach
Siot Tanquincen's rotation. His last stop was with the
Coca-Cola Tigers before nagging injuries forced him into retirement.
PBA career statistics
Season-by-season averages
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Purefoods
| 49 || 15.8 || .439 || .158 || .720 || 1.2 || 1.2 || .8 || .2 || 6.8
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Alaska
| 34 || 10.4 || .452 || .000 || .625 || 1.0 || .7 || .2 || .2 || 3.9
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Alaska
| 65 || 22.7 || .464 || .000 || .765 || 2.4 || 1.5 || .7 ||
.3 || 7.2
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Alaska
| 56 || 22.0 ||
.527 || .000 || .663 || 2.1 || 1.7 || .8 ||
.3 || 8.2
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Alaska
| 49 || 25.5 || .507 || .250 || .670 || 2.4 || 1.8 || 1.0 || .2 ||
11.1
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Alaska
| 45 || 28.8 || .429 || .250 || .782 || 2.6 || 2.1 || .9 || .2 || 8.5
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Alaska
| 59 || 19.4 || .408 || .356 || .723 || 2.1 || 1.3 || .7 || .1 || 5.7
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Purefoods
| 36 || 22.0 || .374 || .293 || .690 || 2.1 || 1.6 || .9 || .2 || 7.6
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
|
78 ||
31.0 || .397 || .279 || .776 ||
2.7 ||
2.8 ||
1.1 ||
.3 || 9.9
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| 32 || 25.2 || .349 || .282 || .699 || 2.3 || 1.8 || .9 || .1 || 7.8
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| 19 || 13.1 || .383 || .353 || .667 || .9 || .7 || .5 || .0 || 4.4
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| 2 || 7.5 || .429 ||
.500 || — || 1.0 || .5 || .0 || .0 || 3.5
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Coca-Cola
| 12 || 7.8 || .303 || .167 ||
1.000 || .8 || .4 || .0 || .0 || 2.4
|-class=sortbottom
| align="center" colspan="2" | Career
| 536 || 22.2 || .434 || .283 || .721 || 2.1 || 1.7 || .8 || .2 || 7.6
Coaching career
Santos served as part of San Sebastian's coaching staff.
He entered the Stags coaching staff after coach
Topex Robinson returned to the team for a second spell as coach in 2013. In 2015, he was officially named head coach of the Stags, replacing Robinson. He also coached the PBA D-League team, ATC Livermarin.
The Stags finished the season in 7th place, off the playoff positions.
Santos was replaced by
Edgar Macaraya in 2016.
Santos then became a part of
Bo Perasol's coaching staff at UP.
In 2022, Santos joined former Ginebra teammate
Bal David at UST.
UST finished last, losing 13 consecutive games after winning its season opener; David resigned, Santos then manned practices
until
Pido Jarencio was appointed as new coach.
Coaching record
|
|
| 2015 | SSC-R | 7th | 18 | 6 | 12 | .333 | — | — | — | — | Eliminated |
|
