Juan Antonio Lorente had three children, David, Rosa María and Miriam, but countless basketball players from Lorca considered him a second father. At the age of 74 he has died, a victim of cancer, leaving the sport of the basket an orphan in the City of the Sun. He was coach, president of the Eliocroca Sports Group from 2000 to 2008, and director of the Murcia Region Basketball Federation.
Lorente was not just a coach, he was a caring man, who supported his players both on and off the court. All of them keep great memories of him, like Juan Carlos Hernández, current president of the Federation, who says that “for me he is my sports father and like my second father. Today is a very sad day for me,” he says. Lumbrerense Benito García, who also spent many years at his command, remembers him as “an excellent person, very good people. I’m still in shock,” he says.
Lorente began his career as a technician in Archena, where he was assigned as a controller of the Central Bank. It was in the 76-77 season and led the resurgence of basketball in the town. In the following campaign, that team called Peña Madridista, was already third at the regional level. Lorente was a manager, with the only collaboration of Marcos Cervantes, and a coach. But in 78-79 he was transferred to his native Lorca and Joaquín Fontes took over. Upon his return to the City of the Sun, he became fully involved in the historic Eliocroca, where he led teams of all categories. He didn’t care about the level. In fact, their last outfits were women’s minibasket. To get his first title as a coach, he went to Valencia in 1975, driven by that passion for a sport, basketball, which he carried in his veins.
The man from Lorca was a bank employee, going through the Central Bank and Santander.
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