Cruz turns title-less UAAP stint into a lesson after PBA success
The joy of winning multiple championships in the last three seasons is something San Miguel Beer’s “Adamson Boys” are not taking for granted.
“In college, we weren’t able to get a championship or even make the [Final Four together],” Jericho Cruz wrote on social media recently. “But in the PBA, we have won 14 championships combined.”
But while collegiate success eluded the longtime friends and teammates, Cruz, Rodney Brondial and Don Trollano tasted triumph on the professional level in recent seasons. They reunited at San Miguel Beer in late 2023 and were vital cogs in the Beermen’s last three titles.
Finding their niche
San Miguel ruled the Philippine Cup twice in a span of six months, beating TNT on both occasions.
The three played together for Adamson under the current San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austrian during their UAAP days. Brondial and Trollano went as far as the Final Four, but Cruz never reached the semifinals in the two seasons he spent with the Soaring Falcons.
Somehow, they found their niche in the PBA.
Cruz won his first title with Rain or Shine in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup. His next championships came after joining San Miguel in 2022.
Trollano was also with the winning Elasto Painters in 2026 and won his next PBA crowns after joining the Beermen in 2023. Brondial, meanwhile, won his first championship in the 2018 Governors’ Cup with Magnolia and then won the next four after joining San Miguel in 2022.
“Hindi tayo pang-UAAP, pang-PBA pala bro (We were not meant for the UAAP; we are meant for the PBA, bro),” Brondial joked in a comment on Cruz’s post.
Introspection
The way their fortunes turned in the pros prompted a little introspection from Cruz, who offered some advice to his followers on social media.
“Just don’t let other people tell you what you can or can’t do,” he wrote. “If you have a goal, just keep going and keep chasing that goal.
“It’s never too early or too late. God is good all the time.”
