Pinoy Basketball Legend Tribute - Ramoncito Campos Jr.

in Melbourne, Campos played with Badion, Rafael Barretto, Carbonell, Genato, Lim, Loyzaga, Ramon Manulat, Leonardo Marquicias, Tolentino, Martin Urra and Tony Villamor. Campos loves to recall that be was not supposed to be in the 1952 Olympic squad. A few months before the tryouts, sportswriters Teddy Benigno and Joe Arcellana taunted Campos that he already was has-been as far as bigtime basketball was concerned.. My 'amor propio' was seriously hurt, Campos reminisces. They made a bet that I would not qualify for the national team, I vowed that I would make it to the Olympics. For three months, during the summer of 1952, Campos went into Spartan training in Bacolod City, at the home of friend Patrick Montilla. His regimen included 100 laps of morning swimming in the Montilla 20-meter pool, badminton or bowling every afternoon, and basketball every other day. 

When the tryouts started, Campos was in tip top condition and easily made the team. In 1956 it was the same story with the same sportswriters insisting that Campos was a washout and through with basketball. He again made the team, his last. Alberto Reynoso and Alfonso Marquez share with Campos the honor of having played in three Olympics and Eddie Ocampo surpassed this with four straight -1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972. Campos retired from major competition in 1958. He retired when he was still in his peak, unlike others who had to quit because of age. Campos started to play basketball at the young age of 15. That was in 1941 when he was a member of La Salle's junior team in the NCAA. And in his rookie year, he made a phenomenal showing which included a 31-point performance that was instrumental in handing then defending champion Jose Rizal its first setback.

Campos holds a lifetime average of more than 30 points and his personal best was 52 points, which he scored when he was playing with the famed Sampaguita Pic tures quintet made up of only eight players. Others were three sets of brothers Fely and Gabby Fajardo; Cady and Tacing Tanquintic and Jose and Luis Gavieres plus Francisco Vestil. He had a rare feat of sinking 17 straight free throws in one game. Of course he used both hands in shooting from the free throw line. If his feat in point-making can be equalled or surpassed by any superstars today, Campos is not worried a bit. He still has another rare feat which could not be equalled in the near future in bigtime basketball; he never fouled out anytime during his 18 years of playing. He admits though that he was thrown out once for tripping an opponent.

In 1946, Campos went to UST and played for the Goldies in the UAAP and led the Pontifical team to the varsity championship and in the national open. Campos was born December 15, 1925 in Iloilo City and at the age of four, he showed one of his talents when he learned to swim by himself. He also developed his great endurance by running on the beach with the sons of fishermen. His colorful career on the hardcourt also includes seven years with the Yco Painters. It was during the fifties that Yco bagged every title in sight, including eight straight national open titles. Campos was in seven of them.