MBA 1998 Champion Pampanga Tribute - Rudolph 'Udoy' Belmonte

RUDOLPH "UDOY" BELMONTE considers himself as the luckiest man in the 1994 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) draft. Though he failed to sign up with Swift which took him on the second round, Udoy found his way to San Miguel Beer, a team almost all upcoming rookies aspire to play for. To be part of the San Miguel team, a two-time Grand Slammer, is in itself a big honor. "What happened to me is a case of one step backward, two steps forward. I was anticipating that Swift would not sign me because I know that the team is already complete in all aspects. They have good outside shooters, powerful players and good ballhandlers. Kaya noong sinabi sa akin ni coach Yeng Guiao na hindi na nila ako makukuha ay wala akong sama ng loob," explained Udoy. But Udoy is destined to play in the PBA As fate would have it, San Miguel players Biboy Ravanes, Samboy Lim, Yves Dignadice and Art de la Cruz suffered various injuries leaving too many spots vacant. Udoy was signed up by San Miguel to fill one of the slots in a contract that runs up to December next year.

Born to Capt. Ramon Belmonte, Jr. and the former Ligaya de Guzman on Decem- ber 23, 1969, Udoy first played organized basketball as a high school student at San Beda College in 1987. He was a member of the squad that won the 1989 Metro Manila Basketball League (MMBL) coached by Edmundo Badolato. He played for San Beda only for a year. He took up mechanical engineering at UST where he played for the varsity team for a total of five years. He made his exit from UST with a big bang by helping the Growling Tigers sweep the UAAP last year. "Lahat ng talo ng UST sa mga nakaraang taon ay nabawi namin last year. For the past 27 years, hindi nag-champion ang UST kaya lahat kami sa UST ay masaya last year. Siguro matagal bago mapantayan ang record na iyon," Udoy joyfully said. An exceptional player that he is, Burger Machine took him in the Philippine Bas- ketball League (PBL) in 1990. Coached by Chot Reyes, the Burger Masters placed third that year. He transferred to Nikon under coach Orly Castelo where he led the Fan Masters to the championship, beating Burger Ma- chine in the 1992 Maharlika Cup. His last stop at PBL was with Casino Rubbing Alcohol

In the Inaugural of MBA , he joined the Pampanga Dragons which won the initial championship under his former UST coach Aric Del Rosario.