UST's Jervy Cruz will be humble, MVP or not

Jervy Cruz, forward-center of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, vows to keep his feet firmly on the ground even if he gets chosen as Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 70th UAAP men's basketball tournament. The MVP award, for which Cruz is the leading contender, will be given on Sunday (October 7), before Game 2 of the men's finals between the La Salle Green Archers and the University of the East Warriors. In interview with GMANews.TV, Cruz said the MVP award, if he should get it, would somehow lessen the pain of the Tigers' losing a knock-out match against the Ateneo Blue Eagles almost two weeks ago. That loss took away the Tigers' Season 69 basketball crown that, ironically, it won last years also against the Eagles. As it was his last time playing for the Tigers, Cruz vowed to do everything he could to keep the title. "Syempre last year ko na so kailangan ibigay ko ang lahat ng aking makakaya. I promised to do my best para maibalik uli ang korona para sa ikasasaya ng UST community," he said. The 21-year-old soft-spoken Tiger recalled what he felt on the Tigers' being edged out of the Final Four: "Malungkot ang karanasan ko dun. Nung kumakanta nga ako ng UST hymn, parang nahihiya ako kasi hindi namin nagawang ipagtanggol ang aming korona. Pero sabi ko, siguro hindi para samin ngayon ang mag-champion. Maybe God has other plans for us." Being considered for the MVP award has somewhat relieved the personal pain. "Syempre masaya kasi ni minsan hindi ko inaasahan na maabot ang ganitong sitwasyon," Cruz said. "Ni minsan hindi ko naisip na mage-MVP ako pero kung sakali mapili ako. Talagang isang malaking karangalan ito para sakin. Pero magiging humble pa rin ako." Humble beginnings Cruz, now a third year Marketing student of the College of Commerce, is a native of Nampicuan town in Nueva Ecija province. As a child, Cruz played volleyball and his joining the Tigers was unintentional. One morning in 2002, he found himself in the engineering complex of UST. It was a training day for the basketball team. Spurred by sudden curiosity, he asked one of the players if he could try out for team. After a few training sessions, he made it to the Tigers' Team B. But the road to donning the black-gold-and-white jersey was rough for the Jamaican-Filipino. On the verge of being elevated into the active roster by then head coach Aric del Rosario in 2003, personal and medical reasons sidelined Cruz in what could have been his first UAAP stint. He eventually made it to Team B in 2004. In 2005, Cruz made it to the RP Youth Team that saw action in the Asian Basketball Championship in India. He was already drafted into the Tigers' line-up, but academic deficiencies barred him from strutting his wares. As a result, Cruz deliberately withdrew from the "Basketball Without Borders Asia" circuit in Beijing, China, to focus on his studies. Pouring in extra effort to regain his playing eligibility, it took only a matter of time before Cruz could prove his worth as a valuable addition to the Tiger Getting noticed Basketball fans first noticed him in February 2006, when he bagged the MVP award at the same time that the Tigers clinched the title in the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) meet in Pangasinan. In the same year he also proved himself a dependable defensive player for which he bagged the UAAP's Defensive Player Award against early front-runner Edwin Asoro of the National University (NU) Bulldogs. He would also have been the hands-down choice to win the Rookie of the Year Award, but he was bested by Woody Co of the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons – because of a "mere technicality." Under a UAAP league rule, a player can only be Rookie of the Year if he joined the regular varsity roster straight out of high school. Cruz, having come to the official roster via Team B, was not qualified. The rule was later to become known in the basketball circles as the "Jai Reyes rule," after the Blue Eagles' point guard who ran in to a similar snag. But once he got into the white-and-gold Tiger uniform in 2006, Cruz quickly showed what he was worth. At the individual awards ceremonies of the 69th season of the UAAP, he was named to the Mythical First Team, after he averaged 16.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.1 block and an assist in 18 games last year. The others named to the First Team were JC Intal of the Blue Eagles, Ken Bono of the Adamson Falcons (he was also 2006 MVP), Jeff Chan of the FEU Tamaraws, and Marvin Cruz of the UP Fighting Maroons. Life after Season 70 Last Friday (September 28), Cruz's tag as the "Next Big Thing" in Philippine basketball got a further boost at the draft of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) – he came out as the No. 2 overall pick, after Fil-Am guard Gabe Norwood, by the Lina Group of Companies. Cruz expects his PBL stint to improve both his offensive and defensive skills. But his immediate goal is to sharpen his shooting, both from the free-throw line and from outside the shaded lane. His free throw was his waterloo in the Tigers games against the Tamaraws and against the Eagles. "Yun ang gusto ko ma-improve sa sarili ko kasi nga as a center madalas nado-double team ako at nababangga sa ilalim," Cruz said. "Kung magkakaroon ako ng shooting sa labas, I think lalo ako makaka-contribute sa team. Kasama na rin ang free-throw shooting sa kailangan ko na ma-improve." Pure luck? Before his PBL stint, however, Cruz still has Sunday to look forward to. For Season 70 of the UAAP, experts are almost one in saying that Cruz will be the hands-down choice for the MVP plum because of his double-double averages – 16.8 points (No. 3 in the league) and 15.4 rebounds (No. 1 in the league) in the 16 games in he played in. Cruz also averaged 1.1 blocks and 1.2 assist per ball game. Last July 19, in a game with the Falcons, Cruz showed his dominance by making 24 points and 23 rebounds – the season's best. He also made two blocks, an assist, and a steal for the game which the Tigers won easily, scoring 96-84. If Cruz bags the 2007 UAAP MVP plum, he will be the second UST center in the last 11 years to do so, after center Christopher Cantonjos, who got the award twice in a row, in 1995 and 1996. The award, Cruz admitted, would be another fine feather in his sporting cap. Asked what his secret was for becoming one of the top collegiate centers, he said: "Sinisuwerte lang siguro ako." - GMANews.TV