Francisco "Pako" Javier Cruz Saldívar (born October 3, 1989) is a Mexican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for Mersin MSK of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). He also represents the senior

Mexico national basketball team The Mexico national basketball team () represents Mexico in men's international basketball competitions, The team has made 6 appearances in FIBA World Cup and 5 appearances in the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics. The governing ...

. He played

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. He is a tall

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

, that can also play as a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

High school

Cruz attended and played basketball at Abraham Lincoln High School, in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

College career

After high school, Cruz played

. He first played at Western Nebraska Community College ( JUCO), from 2008 to 2010. He then transferred to

(

), where he played with the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

, from 2010 to 2012.

Professional career

Cruz began his pro career with the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

club Halcones Rojos, in 2012. In 2015, he moved the Argentine League club

Ciclista Olímpico Club Ciclista Olímpico La Banda, also known as simply Ciclista Olímpico, is an Argentine sports club based in La Banda, Santiago del Estero. The club is mostly known for its basketball team, which currently plays in the Liga Nacional de Básque ...

. He then joined the Latvian club VEF Rīga, with which he played in the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. In 2016, he joined the Spanish club

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

, of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

and European-wide 2nd-tier level EuroCup. On 3 August 2019, he signed with Rytas Vilnius of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

. On August 15, 2020, he has signed with Afyon Belediye of the Turkish

. On June 25, 2021, he has signed with

Tofaş TOFAŞ Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş (acronym for ''Türk Otomobil Fabrikası Anonim Şirketi''; ''Turkish Automobile Factory Joint-Stock Company'' pronounced ) is a Turkish automobile manufacturer which was established in 1968 by Vehbi Koç, ...

of the

. On January 27, 2024, he signed with Mersin MSK of the

Türkiye Basketbol Ligi The Turkish Basketball First League (; TBL), is Turkish basketball league system, the second-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously known as Turkish Basketball Second League (TB2L). Format and pro ...

(BSL).

National team career

Cruz is a member of the senior

. With Mexico, he played at the

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from 30 August to 14 September 2014. Hosted by Spain, it was the la ...

, and at the

2015 FIBA Americas Championship The 2015 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Brazil. This FIBA AmeriCup tournament was held in Mexico City, Mexico. The tournament wa ...

. He also played at the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and at the

2017 FIBA AmeriCup The 2017 FIBA AmeriCup was the 18th edition of the FIBA AmeriCup, which is the main tournament for senior men's basketball national teams of the FIBA Americas. The tournament was held in Medellín, Colombia, Montevideo, Uruguay, and Bahía Blanca a ...

, where he won a bronze medal, and was named to the All-Tournament Team.Francisco CRUZ (MEX).
/ref>

References

External links

Twitter

EuroCup ProfileSpanish League Profile

Eurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Francisco 1989 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Afyon Belediye S.K. players Baloncesto Fuenlabrada players Basketball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Basketball players from Sonora BC Rytas players BK VEF Rīga players Ciclista Olímpico players Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Fuerza Guinda de Nogales players Halcones Rojos Veracruz players Liga ACB players Mersin MSK players Mexican expatriate basketball people in Argentina Mexican expatriate basketball people in Latvia Mexican expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Mexican expatriate basketball people in Spain Mexican expatriate basketball people in the United States Mexican men's basketball players Pan American Games competitors for Mexico Sportspeople from Nogales, Sonora Pioneros de Quintana Roo players Shooting guards Small forwards Tofaş S.K. players Western Nebraska Cougars men's basketball players Wyoming Cowboys basketball players 21st-century Mexican sportsmen Basketball players from Denver