Birthday Greetings to Christian Calaguio ( Dec 26 )

CHRISTIAN CALAGUIO
IF only Letran mentor Molet Pineda will be given the chance to name all his ace players, the name Christian Calaguio will surely be the first on the list. A superstar in the making in all their first three wins, Christian or Chris (for short) led his team to a better position in the overall standings in the first round of the elims, they shared the lead with the fourpeat titlist SSC-Recoletos with a clean 3-0 record. But unfortunately, things went wrong for the Intramuros-based school. From the top, the team went down to just third place after the first round. And at the start of the second round, after losing to San Beda and the unbeaten SSC-R, the Knights are slowly picking up the pieces for a comeback, by giving it's best shot to avail of the last remaining seat on their way to the Final Four. And still, Chris is there to anchor the Letran Kaights. "Syempre kailangan naming manale. Kailangan laging positive ang rasa isip namin, para hindi mawala yung composure namin sa game," he Yes, he is also playing in the Philippine Basketball League (PBA), for Chowking under coach Bay Cristobal of the San Sebastian Stags. After the NCAA, the whole team will start practicing in preparation for the All-Filipino Conference this Oct. 25. "Hindi pa kami makompleto. Lahat kasi kami halos nasa NCAA." Christian is the only son among the three children of Dave Calaguio and the former Rosita Tagle. Born on December 26, 1975, he is currently said. He started his basketball career with the San Beda Red Cubs when coach Ato Badolato tapped his services after seeing him play in the 1991 Palarong Pambansa in the Region V line-up. This 6'1 1/2 Letran forward also became one of the RPS's pride twice, during the 22-under Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) championship, where it landed on fifth place under RPS coach Dong Vergeire. Then in the SEABA 22-under meet in Brunei last year, where they bagged the championship crown, with coach Louie Alas of the RP Youth team. And for Chris, donning the national color is worth remembering. "S'yempre masarap 'yung pakiramdam. Pangalan ng bansa natin 'yung dala namin noon. Pero nakakakaba pa rin," he quipped.

Due to tough schedules, Chris wasn't able to make it in the RP5 roster this year. According to him his academic schedules did not give way in the RPS sked. "Magkaka-conflict lang kasi e. Nakakahiya naman kina coach Dong at saka sa mga kasama ko. Pero talagang gusto ko, 'yun lang ang problema ko," said the 22-year-old PBL veteran.  taking up marketing management in Letran. Grant Hill and Vergel Meneses are his NBA and PBA favorites. And this young Pangasinan native speaks of Letran's chances in handling the NCAA crown, "mahirap magsalita. But we're giving it our best shot, para makaabot sa no. 2 slot," he ended optimistically.