Birthday Greeting to Sir Eduardo Ducut ( July 30 )

Happy Birthday, Eduardo “Ed” Ducut

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

1981 PBA Rookie direct hire
Letran Knights center
10-season PBA player

One of the eight children, six boys and two girls, of Eduardo, Sr. and the former Natalia Turla of San Pedro, Lubao and San Roque, Floridablanca, Pampanga, Ducut played in small inter-commercial leagues in his native towns before he was brought by two referees, probably awed by his height, to coach Nemie Villegas, who was then coaching Letran College in the NCAA, "That's my formal introduction to competitive basketball. I learned a lot from coach Nemie. He was very patient in giving me the basics of the game. He never gave me the impression that he was training a basketball latecomer," Ducut recalls.

The gangling center made a remarkable debut in the NC, helping his team in bringing home the bacon, the 1979 NCAA championship, and later on, the 1979 Intercollegiate. "I spent two memorable years in the NC under coach Nemie," he quips. Coach Villegas probably liked what he saw in the soft-spoken and likeable cager he brought him to La Tondeña when he was named to coach the company's PBA team, Gilbey's Gins.
"With his height, he can be an asset to any team," coach Villegas says of Ducut. "Oh yes, he is still raw, but he can be developed. This player wants to learn and that's very important." Ducut has a three-year contract with Gilbey's, now known as St. George.

Born Nov. 30, 1956. 6-5, 177 lbs. Center-Forward
Certainly a welcome addition to the St. George club this season due to his height and heft under the hoop, Ed has shown a lot of promise as a pivotman or a power forward. Displaying his wares in 19 games, he gained the distinction of tying Mon Fernandez as local king of the boards with an average of 8 rebounds a game. Ed also averaged 0.9 in shot blocks and contributed 6.84 points per contest for a creditable performance for his team. Among the present crop of young and big men, he bears watching..

Gave a new definition to the phrase crowd favorite as far as fans are concerned. Whenever he is fielded in, the gallery chants Ducut! Ducut!' one would think he is indeed a superstar. But he isn't. Instead, people are merely fascinated with his antics aa result of his being overeager in almost everything, from scoring to defending. Ducut belongs to a rare breed of players who have reverted back to amateur status but given a new lease on life in the pros. It is likewise a wonder how he has managed to stay in the majors for ten long years. But he may have finally reached the end of the line. Last year, he was held to a career low 1.3 points per game as he hardly played ample back-up to Benjie Paras.