Reynel Frances T. Hugnatan (born November 3, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Juan Knights of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He also serves as an assistant coach for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was picked 9th overall by the Coca-Cola Tigers in the 2003 PBA draft.
On May 12, 2023, Hugnatan retired from professional basketball and later became an assistant coach for the Bolts. In November 2023, however, he would un-retire to suit up for the MisOr Mustangs.
Early life and college career Hugnatan was born in Bacolod. He grew up in Talisay, a municipality in Negros Occidental. His father was a truck driver, and his family also ran a small farm. He worked as a sakada, an itinerant field worker in sugarcane fields.
Hugnatan played for the University of Manila Hawks at the high school level for two years. He also played for them in the collegiate level under head coach Ato Tolentino but only stayed there for one year.
Professional career
Negros / RCPI-Negros Slashers In 1998, when he was 19 years old, Hugnatan joined the Negros Slashers of the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). Negros offered him a monthly salary to play for them. He and John Ferriols helped lead Negros to the top of the Southern Conference.
In 1999, he participated in the MBA's All-Star Dunk Contest, where he outperformed Don Camaso and rivaled Filipino-American Matt Mitchell in the event's finals.
The Slashers entered the 2000 season with a smaller lineup. Despite their small lineup, they made it to the finals. Hugnatan then missed Game 6 of the finals due to a fever. Without him, Negros lost to the San Juan Knights.
Once again, Negros made it to the finals in the 2001 season. In Game 3 against the LBC Batangas Blades, Hugnatan had a double-double of 20 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to extend the series 2–1. However, Batangas won the following game and Negros lost in the finals once again. That season, he unanimously won the league's Most Improved Player award.
In the 2002 quarterfinals, Hugnatan and Dino Aldeguer both scored 19 points against the Osaka Pangasinan Waves to bring Negros to the semifinals. He then led Negros past the Davao Eagles with 31 points and 14 rebounds. Then he helped lead the Slashers to a finals sweep of LBC Batangas with averages of 19 points and 10.3 rebounds.
Soon after the 2002 season ended, the MBA folded up. With the disbandment of the league, Hugnatan and other MBA players applied for the 2003 PBA Draft.
Coca-Cola Tigers The Coca-Cola Tigers selected Hugnatan with the ninth pick of the 2003 PBA Draft. He agreed to a two-year contract worth P3.26 million. In his first year, he was used at small forward. In the 2003 Reinforced Conference, he scored 12 points in a win over the Alaska Aces. That conference, they made it to the finals, where they won the title in seven games.
Hugnatan competed in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend, losing to Cyrus Baguio in the finals.
Alaska Aces
2004–06 seasons: New team During the 2004–05 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan, along with Jeffrey Cariaso, was traded to the Alaska Aces for Ali Peek and John Arigo. In his Alaska debut, he led them in scoring with 21 points, but they lost to the San Miguel Beermen. He scored seven of his 15 points in the fourth quarter of a win over the Barangay Ginebra Kings. The Aces secured the fourth seed for that conference. In a 2005 Fiesta Conference loss to the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals, he scored 15 points. That conference, they failed to make it to the semifinals as they were eliminated by Red Bull Barako in the quarterfinals.
During the 2006 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan made two game-winning free throws with 10 seconds remaining in their game against Red Bull. He then scored a conference-high 16 points off the bench in a win over the Beermen. With the win, they secured a slot in the quarterfinals. In Game 3 of the quarterfinals, he fractured his nose. Still, he played in Game 4, and led the team with 16 points and into the semifinals. He then underwent surgery for his nose fracture.
2006–08 seasons: 2nd championship An ACL tear kept Hugnatan out for the entire 2006–07 Philippine Cup. He made his return during the 2007 Fiesta Conference. In Game 2 of the Fiesta Conference semis against the Beermen, he contributed 13 points as they got to a 2–0 series lead. In Game 6, he had a double-double of 16 points and a PBA career-high 17 rebounds and also made three clutch free throws as the Aces made it to the finals. In Game 2 of the finals, he contributed a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Aces got to a 2–0 series lead over Talk 'N Text. In Game 7, he scored 16 points and made a clutch free throw to give the Aces the championship; the Aces' first since the 2000 All-Filipino Cup.
In a win over Coca-Cola during the 2007–08 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan scored 17 points to go along with 16 rebounds. In a win over Red Bull, he scored 18 points to go with eight rebounds. The Aces made it to the quarterfinals where in a Game 1 win over Coca-Cola he contributed 17 points. That season, he was selected as an All-Star for the 2008 All-Star Weekend, which was held in his hometown of Bacolod City.
2008–10 seasons: 3rd championship In a 2008–09 Philippine Cup win over Red Bull, Hugnatan had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. He then made a clutch putback with 21 seconds remaining to give Alaska a win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Alaska made it to the finals of that conference, where they held leads of 2–0 and 3–2 against Talk 'N Text. However, they lost their last two games and Talk 'N Text won the championship.
Alaska started the 2009–10 Philippine Cup with a win over the Barako Bull Energy Boosters in which Hugnatan scored 18 points and six rebounds. He then led them with 20 points off the bench in a win over Ginebra. For his performances he won a Player of the Week award alongside Talk 'N Text's Mac Cardona. He then contributed 16 points and eight rebounds as they won their sixth straight game. In a rematch against Barako he led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Alaska had its best start in 11 years with a record of 9–1. Alaska made it all the way to the finals once again, but he struggled with turnovers and they got swept by the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants. That season, he got to play in the All-Star game.
In a Game 1 win of the 2010 Fiesta Conference semifinals against Talk 'N Text, Hugnatan scored all of his 16 points in the third quarter off the bench. After the series went the distance, Alaska returned to the finals. There they bounced back and won the 2010 Fiesta Conference championship over the Beermen.
Meralco Bolts
2011–12 seasons: First seasons with Meralco On February 15 2011, during the 2011 Commissioner's Cup, the Meralco Bolts acquired Hugnatan in exchange for Hans Thiele and Paolo Bugia.
Hugnatan missed time during the 2011–12 Philippine Cup due to a knee injury. He returned to the lineup against Alaska. In the 2012 Commissioner's Cup, he scored 16 points in a win over Rain or Shine. In the Governor's Cup, he scored 18 points in a loss to Ginebra. That conference saw Meralco making it to the semifinals as he scored 14 against the Powerade Tigers. They had a 6–8 record in the semifinals, where their season ended.
2012–15 seasons: Final All-Star appearance In the 2012–13 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan led Meralco to the fourth seed. His best game in the eliminations came in a win over the San Mig Coffee Mixers in which he had 15 points and nine rebounds. However they were swept in the quarterfinals by Alaska. They were also eliminated in the quarterfinals in the following conference, the Commissioner's Cup. In the Governors' Cup, Meralco started with a record of 4–2 and in second place in the standings. Although they fell to third place, they were able to beat the sixth-seeded Barako Bull in the quarterfinals behind Hugnatan's 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. In the semifinals, they fell to San Mig once again. That season, he was in the running for Most Improved Player, but lost to Jervy Cruz.
In a 2013–14 Philippine Cup loss to San Mig, Hugnatan scored 16 points with eight rebounds. That conference Meralco didn't make the playoffs as they lost to Alaska for the eighth seed. They got their revenge in the following conferences as they beat Alaska in the Commissioner's Cup and in the Governors' Cup.
During the 2014–15 Philippine Cup, Hugnatan scored a career-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting in a double overtime win over Barako. He then missed time due to a knee sprain. At age 36, he made his sixth All-Star appearance, with only Jimmy Alapag (37) and Asi Taulava (42) older All-Stars than him. After the All-Star break he had 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting in a win over Barako. In the Governors' Cup, he held 7 ft tall center Greg Slaughter to two points in the fourth quarter after he had scored 19 points through the first three quarters, leading to a win over Ginebra. He then made a clutch three pointer in a win over the Beermen.
2015–17: Meralco's first Finals appearances Meralco started the 2015–16 season miserably as they lost almost all of their games in the 2015–16 Philippine Cup with a record of 1–11. They bounced back in the Commissioner's Cup as they qualified for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals against the NLEX Road Warriors, Hugnatan scored a conference-high 20 points with seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. In Game One of their semis against Alaska, he had 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, and four assists, in 31 minutes but they lost. Alaska went on to eliminate Meralco from making the finals.
In a 2016 Governors' Cup loss to Ginebra, Hugnatan scored 18 points off the bench. He broke out in their semis against the TNT KaTropa, scoring 21 points on 5-of-6 from three in Game 3. For that performance he earned a Player of the Week award. He then contributed 16 points as Meralco made its first Finals appearance in franchise history. In Game 1 of the finals he contributed 15 points but his team lost to Ginebra. He then scored 17 points and made three clutch triples as they took a 2–1 series lead. However Ginebra would overcome that deficit and win the finals in six games.
Hugnatan had impressive performances for the month of January 2017 throughout the 2016–17 Philippine Cup, including a season-high 28 points against the Mahindra Floodbuster, but they lost six straight games in that conference. It was a different story in the Governors' Cup as they started the conference with four straight wins. Against NLEX he scored 25 points off the bench, but they lost that game and snapped their winning streak. Meralco made it back to the Finals of the Governors' Cup for the second year in a row, where they faced Ginebra once again. In Game 3, stepping up for the injured Ranidel De Ocampo, he made seven triples for 22 points to prevent Ginebra from taking a 3–0 series lead. He then made a game-winning assist to Allen Durham in Game 4 to tie the series. However, Ginebra closed out the series and Meralco was denied of the championship once again.
2017–2019 seasons: 5,000 points