{{Short description|Filipino basketball player and coach (born 1984)}} {{BLP sources|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox basketball biography | image = | image_size = | name = Ford Arao | number = | position = [[Assistant coach]] | league = [[UAAP]] | team = Ateneo Blue Eagles | nationality = Filipino | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1984|10|29}} | birth_place = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 6 | weight_lbs = 210 | high_school = [[San Beda College|San Beda]] ([[Manila]]) | college = [[Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball|Ateneo]] | draft_year_pba = 2010 | draft_round_pba = 2 | draft_pick_pba = 14 | draft_team_pba = [[Meralco Bolts]] | career_start = 2010 | career_end = 2016 | career_position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]] / [[Power forward (basketball)|power forward]] | coach_start = 2014 | years1 = 2010 | team1 = [[Meralco Bolts]] | years2 = 2016 | team2 = Byaheng SCTEX | cyears1 = 2014 | cteam1 = [[San Beda Red Lions basketball|San Beda]] (assistant) | cyears2 = 2014–2022 | cteam2 = [[NLEX Road Warriors]] (assistant) | cyears3 = 2016–present | cteam3 = [[Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball|Ateneo]] (assistant) | cyears4 = 2018–2019 | cteam4 = [[Philippines men's national basketball team|Philippines]] (assistant) | cyears5 = 2024–present | cteam5 = [[Ateneo de Manila University|Ateneo JHS]] | awards = | highlights = '''As assistant coach''' * [[AsiaBasket]] champion ([[2023 AsiaBasket Las Piñas Championship|2023 Las Piñas]]) * [[Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup|Filoil Flying V Cup]] champion ([[2018 Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup|2018]]) * 2x [[Philippine Collegiate Champions League|PCCL]] champion ([[2018 PCCL National Collegiate Championship|2018]], [[2019 PCCL National Collegiate Championship|2019]]) * [[Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League|PBA D-League]] champion ([[2019 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup|2019 Aspirants' Cup]]) * 2022 World University Basketball Series (WUBS) champion * 4× [[University Athletic Association of the Philippines|UAAP]] [[UAAP Basketball Championship|champion]] ([[UAAP Season 80 basketball tournaments|2017]], [[UAAP Season 81 basketball tournaments|2018]], [[UAAP Season 82 basketball tournaments|2019]], [[UAAP Season 85 basketball tournaments|2022]]) *[[NCAA basketball championships (Philippines)|NCAA men's champion]] ([[NCAA Season 90 basketball tournaments|2014]])
'''As player''' *[[NCAA basketball championships (Philippines)|NCAA juniors' champion]] ([[NCAA Season 78 basketball tournaments|2002]]) *NCAA juniors' Mythical Five ([[NCAA Season 78 basketball tournaments|2002]]) }}
'''Claiford A. Arao''' (born October 29, 1984) is a Filipino professional [[basketball]] coach and former player. He was the fourteenth overall draft pick by Meralco in the [[2010 PBA draft]]. He played for the [[Ateneo Blue Eagles]] during his collegiate career, in which he now serves as an [[assistant coach]].
== Playing career == Arao played high school basketball in [[San Beda University|San Beda College]] High School. The San Beda Red Cubs won the [[NCAA Season 78 basketball tournaments|2002 NCAA juniors' basketball title]] with Arao as their starting center.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-07-06 |title=Two basketball programs that are worlds apart |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/two-basketball-programs-worlds-apart-043338880.html |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-SG}}</ref> Arao then played collegiate basketball in [[Ateneo de Manila University]] from 2003 to 2007. The [[Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball|Ateneo Blue Eagles]] reached the UAAP finals in [[UAAP Season 66 men's basketball tournament|2003]] and [[UAAP Season 69 men's basketball tournament|2006]], and fell short each time.
Arao was drafted by the [[Meralco Bolts]] in the [[2010 PBA draft|2010 PBA Draft]]. Arao played only one game in the Philippine Basketball Association.<ref>{{Cite web |last=INQUIRER.net |date=2010-08-29 |title=2010 PBA Rookie Draft Results |url=https://sports.inquirer.net/404/2010-pba-rookie-draft-results |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=INQUIRER.net |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124064833/https://sports.inquirer.net/404/2010-pba-rookie-draft-results |url-status=dead }}</ref> He played for three minutes, without registering anything from that lone game.
In 2016, Arao returned to playing competitive basketball as he signed with Byaheng SCTEX of the [[Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Joble |first=Rey |url=http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/sctex-joins-pcbl-as-chairmans-cup-opens-sunday-in-malolos |title=SCTEX joins PCBL as Chairman's Cup opens Sunday in Malolos |work=InterAksyon |date=March 6, 2016 |accessdate=March 11, 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312012139/http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/sctex-joins-pcbl-as-chairmans-cup-opens-sunday-in-malolos |archivedate=March 12, 2016}}</ref>
== Coaching career == During [[Boyet Fernandez]]'s first coaching stint with [[San Beda Red Lions basketball|San Beda]], Arao was one of his assistant coaches.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PH youth coach Jamike Jarin lined up to be next San Beda coach after Boyet Fernandez |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/uaap-women/philippine-youth-coach-jamike-jarin-lined-up-to-be-the-next-san-beda-coach-ncaa-boyet-fernandez |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Spin.ph |language=en}}</ref>
Arao was chosen as one of [[Yeng Guiao]]'s deputies in the [[Philippines men's national basketball team|Philippine national team]] during the buildup for the [[Basketball at the 2018 Asian Games – Men|2018 Asian Games]] and [[2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification (Asia)|2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Young Arao grateful to be chosen under Guiao's wing in PH team: 'Sino ba naman ako?' |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/fiba/ford-arao-assistant-coach-yeng-guiao-philippine-team-nlex-a2437-20181024?ref=article_tag |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Spin.ph |language=en}}</ref>
In 2024, he was appointed as head coach of the Ateneo High School basketball team.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carmen |first=Lorenzo del |date=2024-06-24 |title=Ford Arao takes helm as Ateneo boys' basketball head coach |url=https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/ford-arao-takes-helm-as-ateneo-boys-basketball-head-coach/305758 |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Tiebreaker Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
==PBA career statistics== {{PBA player statistics legend}} <ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130126205628/http://www.pba-online.net/profile/Claiford-Arao/392/ Player Profile]}} at PBA-Online!</ref>
===Season-by-season averages=== {{PBA player statistics start}} |- | align=left | {{pbay|2010}} | align=left | [[Meralco Bolts|Meralco]] | 1 || 3.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- | align=center colspan=2 | Career | 1 || 3.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 {{end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{2010 PBA draft}} {{Ateneo Blue Eagles 2018-2019 UAAP Men's Senior Basketball Champions}} {{Ateneo Blue Eagles 2019-2020 UAAP Men's Senior Basketball Champions}} {{Ateneo Blue Eagles 2022-23 UAAP Men's Senior Basketball Champions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arao, Ford}} [[Category:1984 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Centers (basketball)]] [[Category:Filipino men's basketball coaches]] [[Category:Filipino men's basketball players]] [[Category:21st-century Filipino sportsmen]] [[Category:Meralco Bolts players]] [[Category:San Beda University alumni]] [[Category:NLEX Road Warriors coaches]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Power forwards]] [[Category:Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball players]] [[Category:Meralco Bolts draft picks]] [[Category:Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball coaches]]
{{Philippines-basketball-bio-stub}}