Happy Birthday, Romeo “Romy” Frank ( July 23 )

Happy Birthday, Romeo Frank

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

PBA pioneer
1978 PBA Open Conference champion
U/Tex Wranglers forward

Frank, who says his name is a misnomer, his American father being Wallace Franks (not Frank) admits that he is a product of the backyard courts of Malibay, his place of birth and where he grew up. A gangly lad at eight, and known in the area as Boy Kano, he began haunting the courts and showing his knack for basketball. His first taste of league action came during the 1968 Araw ng Pasay basketballfest. The following year, enrolling in a commerce course at the Central Institute of Technology, he made it to the school's varsity team. Coincidence or not, CIT captured its first PCAA championship during the 1969-70 season. Gaby Fajardo, then-Letran coach, spotted him and convinced Frank to join the Knights to which he acquiesced. He however stayed in Letran for a month or two and called it quits. 'I worked for my vegetablesdealer Uncle. I earned a living plying the produce from Baguio down to Manila. For two years, Frank busy with his work, shunned basketball. But Alex Tindan, who knew him since childhood, sought him out for a tryout with the UTex Weavers. Coach Lauro "Bay" Mumar, then of the U-Tex bench was shopping for a pivotman and Frank fitted the requirements. In his maiden year, 1973, in the nowrestyled MICAA, the Weavers earned the sobriquet, Giant Killers. It was also at this time that he began with his improvised training program. He practiced with a 10'5" basket, heaved dumb-bells and weights, and shoved and banged his body against walls, and skipped barkadas.