Filipino Basketball superstar, Roi De La Cruz has decided to come out of retirement, but this time he will be on the sidelines. De La Cruz spent the last 9 seasons with the Quezon City Thunder, retiring as the team's leader in points, assists, and steals. His illustrious career came to a halt after proposing to his fiancé, Erin Cathey, an American native of Wyoming. The shock of his retirement left the Filipino Basketball Association in confusion at what he was going to do now.
Fast forward two months later and after winning a CBI title, the University of Wyoming was looking for a new coach and heard through the grapevine that De La Cruz was planning on moving into town. De La Cruz was quoted, "I have accomplished all I need in the Philippines. I am going to miss my family and friends back home but they support my decision to grow my career. I never thought I would ever live in a place like Laramie, but love makes you do crazy things. Hopefully, I can pass on a few things to the boys and see if we can bring some championships to Wyoming."
While he did lead his team in points, De La Cruz was a hard nosed defender who prides himself on playing a slow methodical game. As a head coach, he will lead the Cowboys in a slow paced game featuring mainly the triangle offense and a bit of a FLEX, focusing on dominating the offensive and defensive boards and maintaining a zone defense, mainly in the 3-2, but in the future looking to feature more 2-3.
After the first summer with the team, his starting lineup will look as such:
Freddy Armstrong 2.5 Sr
Clifton English 3.5 Jr
Chris Jackson 3.5 Fr-Could be a real stud 5.0 pot
Lafayette Harmon 2.5 So
Jason Rhodes 2.0 Fr-lot of potential 4.0
Having only 1 scholarship to offer, the coach found a local stud: Marcus Harris out of Therompolis, Wy- Ranked 1023 by WSSN. "He has a lot of potential...I am excited to see him make an impact the minute he arrives next year." De La Cruz.
We have no idea how this international superstar will fare in his first season. With a three year, $126,000 contract, hopefully De La Cruz doesn't freeze is butt off in the Wyoming snow.
Non-conference Schedule:
Portland State
UC Riverside
Costal Carolina
San Francisco
South Dakota
UTSA
Loyola Marymount
#4 Gonzaga
Appalachian State
Volume 1