Flashback Amateur Player Feature # 1 - Jerome Cueto

Small men are, somehow indispensable in any quintet despite the fact that cagers are getting taller and taller as time goes by. In a sport like basketball, where height is might, there's room for short cagers only if they can compensate for their fact of height by means of their speed and other skills that could befuddle their much taller peers. Looking at the line-ups of past nation al youth squads, we see relatively short cagers who have wowed focal and international fans not because they were able to haut down precious rebounds or set records in the shot-block department but because they have displayed unparalleled wizardry in doling out assists, setting up plays, and even scoring The very first RP Youth quintet that competed in Seoul Korea in 1970 had the spritely Rosalio Martirez True, it was Bogs Adornado who shone brightest in the 1970 campaign. Adornado, who was to become the country's ace forward punctured the hoop with tenacity. But it was Martirez who delighted the crowd with his hardcourt antics. Yoyong later became the darling of the Filipino basketball fans, The RP Youth squad that competed in the 1972 Manila AYBC had three talented small men in the persons of Mike Bilbao, Gregorio Dionisio and Rey Franco. In the succeeding years, Bilbao rose to become the PBA's top assistman, In 1974, it was Roberto dela Rosa's tum to dazzle the crowd. The third AYBC was also held in Manila. The 1977 Youth squad was a tall team, Jimmy Manansala, at 5'11' proved to be the steadiest shooter of the lot. The fifth AYBC was held in Kuwait, In 1978, the small boy who made it big was Marte Saldaña. Saldaña later became the PBA Rookie of the Year 1982 as he joined San Miguel in the peso league. In 1980, the year the Philippines lost the Youth crown to China in Bangkok, Thailand, the top guard was Ramon dela Cruz, Bullstrong as he is, Onchie showed signs of becoming a smaller version of Sonny Jaworski, Who could forget the sterling performance of wonder boy Hector Calma during the seventh staging of the AYBC in Manila in 1982. The local boys, led by Hec, successfully regained the Asian Juniors cage crown. Hector Calma, at 58", was hailed as the best player of the tournament.

Jerome is the second of five children born to Joey Cueto and the former Beatriz Inocencio, Pura Elementary School in Quezon City is where he started to dribble. "But that was all child's play. Hindi talaga ako ganoong kahilig sa basketball," confesses Jerome.
Later, the Cuetos flocked to Nueva Ecija, Jerome's father, a businessman, was assigned to that province. Jerome and his brothers Jimmy, Jojo and Jeffrey, and sister Janet, had no options but to enrol in schools in Nueva Ecija. Jerome took his secondary education at the Nueva Ecija High School and it was here where he developed a distinct fondness for basketball. His father and high school coach Billy Adreneda, prodded him to start taking basketball seriously. "Wala talaga akong hilig. In fact, it was my elder brother, Jimmy, who played for the high school team. Napilayan siya. Walang ipapalit sa kanya, Pinilit ako ni coach Adreneda na maglaro," recalls Jerome. And that was how it all started. Jerome played two years for Nueva Ecija High School, He even saw action in the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Associa tion meet. After high school, he went back to Manila and enrolled at the University of the East. There, he only played during intramurals while taking up Business Administration. He tried out for a slot in the UE Senior squad but Filomeno Pumaren, then UE coach, wasn't impressed. After a semester, Jerome transferred to FEATI University. He had a brief stint with the Feati U High Players under Domingo Cruz in the MUCAA. After his stint with a collegiate team, he moonlighted in the commercial leagues. He played for Sampaguita Builders in the FICFAA, Then, he was recruited by Turing Valenzona to see action with Usiphil in the Interclub, Usiphil was the sister team of multi-titled Apcor. After the disbandment of both Usiphil and Apcor, Jerome went to Masagana 99 and dribbled with the Ricegrowers for a year. Last year, after leaving Masagana 99, Jerome joined Development Bank of Rizal. Jerome saw action in the PABL dry run and in the Sama-sama sa Paglalaro, where he represented Nueva Ecija. His brilliant performance in the Samasama Sa Paglalaro caught the fancy of Ron Jacobs. Jacobs, who saw in Cueto semblances of Calma, recruited Jerome for Southern Textile Mills. STM competed in the Philippine Amateur Basketball League Founders' Cup last October. Cueto was skipper of the squad, Now, Jerome assumes a similar role with the RP Youth squad bound for Seoul, Korea on April 7 to 21. Cueto was appointed co-captain of the national juniors. Visayan, Anthony Mendoza, is the skipper of the squad. from Sports Weekly Magazine MARCH 2-9, 1984