Joaquín Ruiz Lorente


Joaquín Ruiz Lorente is a retired Spanish professional basketball player and the current manager of the Liaoning Flying Leopards.

Player career

The career of Ruiz Lorente began with CB Zaragoza, with players like José Luis Llorente or Pepe Arcega. In 1991, he left the team of his born city for playing with other Liga ACB teams. He totally spent 18 seasons in the league, playing 453 games.

Honors

Ruiz Lorente started his career as assistant coach of José Luis Abós at CAI Zaragoza during four seasons, becoming the head coach in August 2014, when Abós resigned due an illness. He was sacked on November 2015 after an awful start of the 2015–16 season.
On 31 March 2016, Ruiz Lorente was appointed as head coach of the Panama national basketball team.
Six months later, Ruiz Lorente agreed terms with Chinese league team Liaoning Flying Leopards, but despite this contract, he will continue being the Panamese national team coach.