Jerwin Gaco
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Jerwin A. Gaco (born January 17, 1981) is a Filipino 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 the Davao Occidental Tigers of the
Pilipinas Super League The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) was founded in December 2021 by former officials the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, namely its former CEO Ro ...
(PSL). He was an undrafted player in the 2005 PBA draft. After playing in semi-professional leagues and in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), he was acquired by the Barako Energy Coffee Masters during the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference before being signed by the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados for the 2010–11 season. Since then, he has won championships in the PBA, PBA D-League,
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...
(MPBL), and PSL.


Early life

Gaco grew up the eldest of four children. Before he had turned 19, he had lost his father to cancer, and his mother to
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
. With the family now orphaned, he became the breadwinner of that family, with his basketball earnings helping to send his sisters and brother to school.


College career

After playing in Palarong Pambansa, Gaco got offers from different universities. He was given an invitation to try out for the UE Red Warriors, but since he did not know where the campus was, he was not able to go. Instead, he played for the PUP Maroons for three years. After graduating college, Gaco still had two more playing years left. He spent his last two years with the De La Salle Green Archers in the
UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...
. He joined a rookie class that included
JVee Casio Joseph Evans "JVee" D. Casio (born September 1, 1986) is a Filipino basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted first overall by the Powerade Tigers in 2011 PBA draft. Early life Ca ...
and Ryan Arana. They had a record of 7–7, allowing them to make the Final Four. In their first Final Four game against the
Ateneo Blue Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The Ateneo collegiate ...
, he was punched by Eagles guard LA Tenorio. He then nudged Tenorio, and La Salle's bench stormed the court. Tenorio was given a one-game suspension, while Gaco was given a technical foul. La Salle went on to win that game in overtime, but lost the next game to Ateneo. The following season, in 2004, the Archers won the championship.


Semi-professional career

After going undrafted in 2005, he played for the Harbour Centre franchise in the Philippine Basketball League, where he honed his skills as an enforcer. He won multiple championships in his time there. Gaco also saw action for the Laguna Stallions in the semi-professional Liga Pilipinas regional league.


Professional career


Philippine Patriots

Gaco played for the Philippine Patriots in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), winning a championship with them in 2010.


Barako Energy Coffee Masters

After his time in the ABL, Gaco entered 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) when Barako acquired him. This happened during the 2010 Fiesta Conference, when he was 29 years old and five years after he had gone undrafted. He had a PBA career-high 14 points in his time there.


Magnolia franchise

Gaco then signed a contract with the B-Meg Derby Aces Llamados. In his sophomore year, he played in the Rookie-Sophomore Blitz Game, scoring 19 points in that game. His first PBA championship came in the 2012 Commissioner's Cup. Despite being a bench player, he was seen by fans as the "lucky charm" of the team. These fans called themselves the "Gaconatics", after sportscaster
Mico Halili Mico Halili is a Filipino sports television personality, sportscaster and sports journalism, sports journalist. He is best known as the lead sportscaster for the basketball games of the Philippine Basketball Association, PBA and University Athl ...
gave them that nickname. Team governor Rene Pardo called him "the team's glue guy". He then went on to win a grand slam in 2014 with that franchise. He stayed with the team until 2016, when he was left unsigned by them.


Tanduay Rum Masters

After attempts to return to the PBA, Gaco signed with the Tanduay Rum Masters for the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup, who had a two-game losing streak at the time. He had a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds in his winning debut over the Batangas EAC Generals, while his former teammate at Star, Mark Cruz, had 29 points. He became one of the team's leaders as they went on to claim a twice-to-beat advantage. In the quarterfinals, they beat the AMA Titans, with him scoring 16 points. In the semifinals, they lost to the Cignal-San Beda Hawkeyes in three games. Still, he credited his stint with them for helping him gain his confidence back.


Go for Gold Scratchers

Gaco, as a veteran role player, helped the young Go for Gold team win the 2018 PBA D-League Foundation Cup over the Che Lu Bar and Grill Revellers.


Imus Bandera

While Gaco was playing for Go for Gold in the D-League, he also played for Imus Bandera, starting from the 2018 Datu Cup. He was originally supposed to play for the Manila Stars, but they cut him before final rosters were submitted.


Pasig Pirates

Gaco was then placed into the dispersal draft, where he was picked first by the Pasig Pirates.


Nueva Ecija MiGuard

Gaco then played for the debuting Nueva Ecija MiGuard in the 2019 Lakandula Cup. In his first game for them, he had 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. He played seven games for them in the 2020 Lakan Cup before he and the team mutually agreed to part ways.


Davao Occidental Tigers

As a free agent, Gaco signed with the Davao Occidental Tigers. At 40 years old, he added another championship to his collection when the Tigers defeated the San Juan Knights in the finals of the 2020 MPBL Lakan Cup. Before the following season, he, along with eight other players, were cut from the team.


JPS Zamboanga City Valientes

In the 1st conference of the VisMin Super Cup, Gaco joined the Zamboanga City JPS. He had a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds in a win over the MisOr Brew AuthoriTea. He made that conference's Mythical Team, along with Hesed Gabo, Michael Mabulac, James Castro, and John Wilson.


Davao Occidental Tigers / Davao Pilipinas

Gaco rejoined the team for the FilBasket Subic Championship. That team made it to the semifinals. The Tigers then moved to the PSL. He only played one game for them in the first conference. Davao won the conference championship, giving him his 17th championship overall. He was set to play for them once again as the rebranded Davao Pilipinas were originally picked to represent the Philippines in the ABL. However, those plans fell through and the Zamboanga Valientes became the new Philippine representatives for the ABL.


Personal life

A single parent, Gaco has two daughters. He also invests in condominium units, and promotes small-time local businesses on his social media accounts.


PBA career statistics


Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align="left" , Barako Energy Coffee Masters , 15 , , 13.9 , , .536 , , .000 , , .541 , , 3.5 , , .2 , , .1 , , .1 , , 5.3 , - , align=left , , align="left" rowspan="6" , B-Meg / San Mig Coffee / Purefoods / Star , 40 , , 12.1 , , .531 , , .000 , , .512 , , 3.2 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , 4.0 , - , align=left , , 14 , , 5.0 , , .375 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.0 , , .1 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - , align=left , , 24 , , 5.7 , , .448 , , .000 , , .462 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - , align=left , , 20 , , 4.4 , , .524 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , .0 , , 1.4 , - , align=left , , 7 , , 3.6 , , .500 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , .0 , , 1.9 , - , align=left , , 4 , , 1.8 , , .000 , , .000 , , .150 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=2 , Career , 124 , , 8.2 , , .510 , , .000 , , .519 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , .1 , , .1 , , 2.7


Notes


References


External links


Player Profile
at PBA-Online! * VisMin Super Cu
Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaco, Jerwin 1981 births Living people Filipino men's basketball players Basketball players from Quezon De La Salle Green Archers basketball players Philippine Patriots players Barako Bull Energy Boosters players Magnolia Hotshots players Imus Braderhood players Pasig City MPBL team players Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards players Power forwards Polytechnic University of the Philippines alumni 21st-century Filipino sportsmen