Difficult to see an athlete as complete as ‘Patallucha’, who was the protagonist of the golden years of basketball in Ecuador. He was part of the ‘Quintero de oro’ of the Liga Deportiva Universitaria and was also a figure in soccer.
manager Rodrigo Paz bought his ‘Patallucha’ pass in 1959 for which he paid 2,000 sucres. He wanted him on the Liga Deportiva Universitaria soccer team.
Gonzalo ‘Patallucha’ Cevallos was born, grew up and dazzled Ecuadorian sports in the last century.
On February 15, 2022 turned 91 and his name is still written in gold letters in the history of basketball from Quito: he played in the improvised courts that were installed in the Arenas and Belmonte bullrings.
He also did it in Inauguration of the Julio César Hidalgo Coliseumwith the Liga Deportiva Universitaria (LDU) basketball team.
He lived in some neighborhoods of the Historic Center of Quito, where he trained as a basketball player and soccer player. He balled on the esplanade of El Tejar and in the San Marcos park.
He studied at El Cebollar and Hermano Miguel schools. He was a star for Mercantil in collegiate and club tournaments before joining LDU.
With a fresh and lively storyand with his great sense of humour, he remembers that in Plaza Belmonte they played on the ground.
‘El viejito’ Carlos Murgueytio, who also took care of Plaza Arenas, ‘chalked’ the court and placed the rings. On game days, the offices were transformed into dressing rooms for the visiting teams.
Great games were played there, especially the schoolboys, between Mercantile, La Salle, Military and Mejía.
But, since it was not an exclusive scenario for the sport of the basket, Quito fans also watched boxing matchesThey applauded Manuel Cazares; they attended wrestling days and, of course, some bullfights.
The bullfighter Concepción ‘Conchita’ Cintrón and Max Espinoza, known as ‘El Marinero’, who lived on Vargas street and was a sensation in Spain, did the paseo there, says ‘Patallucha’.
In the Plaza Arenas, instead, he played against the All Stars, the team that always traveled with the legendary Harlem Globetrotters.
In that game he scored what he classifies as the best basket of his life: “Almost at the height of the free throw semicircle, and with my back, I sent the ball to the backboard. It was spectacular,” he details.
“Almost at the height of the free throw semicircle, and on my back, I sent the ball to the backboard. It was spectacular”.
With Liga Deportiva Universitaria y Mercantil he played several international parties at the Julio Cesar Hidalgo Coliseum.
It wasn’t just a basketball arena, either. Movies were shown on weekends and it was also rented out for artistic performances.
There the ‘Patallucha’ and the public from Quito attended concerts by famous singers of the time, such as the Spanish Raphael and the Argentine Sandy from America.
His entry to Liga de Quitoin 1951, caused controversy, especially among the players due to the rivalry that existed with them while ‘Patallucha’ defended Mercantil.
The managers called him to strengthen the team for a South American Championship in Colombia, but stayed with the team until his career retirement.
In 1956 he was part of the League’s ‘Golden Quintet’, With Marcelo Holguín, Santiago Oleas, Oswaldo Arroyo and Rodrigo Burbano.
He was also a footballer
The extraordinary flexibility of the ‘Patallucha’ and his ability to jump and rise made the leaders of the Sacramento amateur soccer club make him the team’s goalkeeper.
Eduardo Sarrade, the starting goalkeeper, had been injured and Jorge Campaige suddenly decided to retire.
The afternoon of his debut he saved a penalty to the brother of ‘Manco’ Vásconez. He stayed as the starting goalkeeper despite the fact that, when he played soccer, he played as a striker.
He later played for the Argentina club (which later took the name of Deportivo Quito) and for Aucas, where was a participant in the historic second-half comebacks in the matches that took place in the now-defunct El Arbolito stadium, in front of the El Ejido park in Quito.
At Deportivo Quito he was a teammate of Ernesto Guerra, Juan Ruales, Bolívar Mantilla and Argentine Carlos Raffo.
won the Pichincha professional soccer titles in 1955, 1956 and 1957. At night he put on the white League shirt to dazzle with his plays on the wooden floor of the Julio César Hidalgo Coliseum.
In 1960 he played for the Liga Deportiva Universitaria soccer team. The late Rodrigo Paz paid 2,000 sucres for his pass.
return to basketball
‘Patallucha’ Cevallos played soccer until 1960 to later become a basketball coach. At the Juan Montalvo school he discovered Julio Garzón, Gonzalo Troya, Carlos Falquez and the Maya brothers.
Then he went to train the Manuela Cañizares school team, where he worked for 10 years and then he was at the 24 de Mayo school, where He directed the ‘Chivas’ teams for 37 years.
At 91 years old, Gonzalo ‘Patallucha’ Cevallos keeps the memory of the unforgettable basketball nights.
He played with simple shoes, of national production, brand Venus.
And about the nickname ‘Patallucha’, which means barefoot, he says he inherited it from his brother. He remembers that he played with simple shoes, of national production, brand Venus.
When he won the titles with the League and the leadership offered to give him foreign shoes, the ‘Patallucha’ I always ordered some Converse.
