Geronimo Cruz (12 December 1937- 21 August 2022) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who competed in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Basketball career

The four-time national player often called "Gerry" owns the distinction of being the only Filipino basketball star that can be proud to be recruited to play abroad. In 1959, Cruz was drafted to play for the University of San Francisco Dons and he did have a short stint until he was recalled to Manila by his employer Baby Ysmael. Gerry saw action in one Olympics (Rome, 1960), one world championship (Santiago, Chile, 1959), one Asian Games (Jakarta, 1962), and one Asian Basketball Confederation (Taipei, 1963). Cruz played for the

FEU Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The collegiate women's varsity teams are called the ''Lady Tamaraws'' while the high school varsity teams are call ...

in his rookie year in 1956 and his heroics in the championship match against UST gave the Tams the UAAP varsity crown. He was an original member of the famed

Ysmael Steel Admirals The Ysmael Steel Admirals were a basketball team that became active in the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) from 1958 to 1968. It was best known for its rivalry with the YCO Painters. It won numerous titles in the Nat ...

which Baby Ysmael formed in October 1956. His teammates were Frankie Rabat, Tito Villareal, Tine Literal, Cesar Jota, Serafin Vida, Pablo Belmonte, Apolinar Rosar, Conrado Santos and

Carlos Badion Carlos Velasco Badion (August 16, 1935 – June 20, 2002) was a Filipino basketball player. Although born in Lubao, Pampanga, he grew up in Tondo, Manila where he started his checkered career playing in sandlot tournaments and for Abad Santos H ...

. Cruz retired in 1964 after he reinjured his knee which he suffered in the Admirals game against Crispa where he fell to the floor during an undergoal play and broke his knee.

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* 1937 births Living people People from Guagua Basketball players from Pampanga Olympic basketball players for the Philippines Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1962 Asian Games Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players 1959 FIBA World Championship players FEU Tamaraws basketball players Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Medalists at the 1962 Asian Games {{Philippines-basketball-bio-stub