Jericho Xavier Setubal Cruz (born October 11, 1990) is a Filipino-Guamanian professional basketball player for the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA).

Early life

Cruz was born in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

but would spend most of his childhood in

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

of the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...

. Prior to 2004, he would play basketball for the G-Rollers of Garapan. He would attend the Marianas High School for his secondary education.

High school and college career

Cruz decided to try his luck in the Philippines where he initially played for

Rizal Technological University Rizal Technological University (RTU) is a state university based in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, with its main campus in Mandaluyong City and a branch in Pasig City. It was established on July 11, 1969, as the College of Ri ...

in 2010, the same year when the Blue Thunder ruled the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association. He was also a member of RTU's two-time runner up squad in the National Capital Region Athletic Association where the Blue Thunder lost to Olivarez College and Colegio de Sta. Monica in 2010 and 2011. He was a member of the Mythical Team in 2011. He was spotted by then Adamson Soaring Falcons coach Leo Austria while playing in a tournament in

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; ; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is th ...

. He averaged 10.1 points per game in his first tour of duty with the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distribu ...

in the 2011 FilOil Flying V Preseason tournament then averaged 12.3 markers per outing in his rookie year with Adamson in the 2012 UAAP season. He elected to forgo his final year with the Falcons and applied for the 2014 PBA draft.

Professional career

Cruz was drafted 9th overall by Rain or Shine in the 2014 PBA draft. On December 5, 2014, he registered his first breakout game against

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, finishing 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Two days later, he suffered a broken foot during their game against Ginebra and was out for the rest of the All-Filipino conference. He has since returned to active play in the 2015 Commissioner's Cup. He was recognized during the 2016 PBA Leo Awards as he bagged the Most Improved Player trophy. On February 15, 2018, he was traded to TNT KaTropa in exchange for rookie Sidney Onwubere, Kris Rosales, and 2018 first round pick. On June 10, 2019, Cruz was traded to the

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by Manila North Tollways Corporation, NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014 ...

in a three-team trade involving NLEX,

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, and NorthPort Batang Pier. On December 31, 2021, he became an unrestricted free agent, but he eventually re-signed a two-month deal with NLEX on January 20, 2022. On March 1, 2022, he became an unrestricted free agent again after not re-signing with NLEX. He immediately signed a three-year contract with the

on the same day. He declined offers from two teams of the Japanese B.League preferring to stay with his family in the Philippines. Four months thereafter Cruz set his career-high 30 points in SMB's tough win over TNT.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2023–24 season''

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 40 , , 17.0 , , .421 , , .237 , , .861 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .0 , , 6.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 53 , , 24.4 , , .483 , , .367 , , .748 , , 3.2 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .1 , , 12.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 38 , , 23.8 , , .396 , , .306 , , .735 , , 4.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 9.8 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , Rain or Shine , rowspan=2, 27 , , rowspan=2, 20.7 , , rowspan=2, .415 , , rowspan=2, .355 , , rowspan=2, .710 , , rowspan=2, 2.9 , , rowspan=2, 2.8 , , rowspan=2, 1.3 , , rowspan=2, .1 , , rowspan=2, 8.0 , - , align=left ,

, - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

, rowspan=2, 25 , , rowspan=2, 23.3 , , rowspan=2, .372 , , rowspan=2, .270 , , rowspan=2, .719 , , rowspan=2, 3.8 , , rowspan=2, 3.4 , , rowspan=2, .9 , , rowspan=2, , , rowspan=2, 9.4 , - , align=left , NLEX , - , align=left , , align=left , NLEX , 10 , , 25.9 , , .516 , , .383 , , .696 , , 2.5 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 13.2 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , NLEX , rowspan=2, 26 , , rowspan=2, 24.6 , , rowspan=2, .432 , , rowspan=2, .256 , , rowspan=2, .698 , , rowspan=2, 3.3 , , rowspan=2, 3.0 , , rowspan=2, 1.3 , , rowspan=2, .1 , , rowspan=2, 9.5 , - , align=left , San Miguel , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 56 , , 24.8 , , .440 , , .322 , , .718 , , 2.6 , , 2.6 , , .8 , , .1 , , 11.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 39 , , 24.9 , , .424 , , .313 , , .760 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .1 , , 10.6 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 314 , , 22.9 , , .433 , , .316 , , .747 , , 3.1 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.1

National team career

Cruz was a part of the Philippines team that won the gold medal at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games basketball tournament in

Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. He has also represented the

at the youth level, playing in the 2008 FIBA Oceania Youth Tournament leading CNMI to a sixth-place finish and in the process, was voted as one of the tournament's Top 5 players. At the 2010 Micronesian Games, Cruz played for the Guam national team and won a gold medal. In January 2020, Cruz received a call-up to play for

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Jericho 1990 births Living people Adamson Soaring Falcons basketball players Basketball players from Metro Manila Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Guamanian men's basketball players Filipino men's basketball players Micronesian Games gold medalists for Guam Micronesian Games medalists in basketball NLEX Road Warriors players Northern Mariana Islands sportsmen Sportspeople from Pasig Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Rain or Shine Elasto Painters draft picks Rain or Shine Elasto Painters players Rizal Technological University alumni San Miguel Beermen players Shooting guards SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in basketball TNT Tropang 5G players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Filipino sportsmen