Eddie Casiano Ojeda (born September 20, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and is currently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for

Atléticos de San Germán Atléticos de San Germán is a basketball club of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) based in San Germán, Puerto Rico. Founded in the 1930s after the amalgamation of the old San Germán team and the Farmacia Martín team, the team is one of ...

. He also was the head coach of the Puerto Rican national team. He was born in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, but raised in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Casiano played for the

, Leones de Ponce, and

Indios de Mayagüez The Indios de Mayagüez (Mayagüez Indians) are a baseball team in Puerto Rico's Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, in Spanish). Based in Mayagüez, the ''Indios'' have won 18 national ...

in the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Naci ...

in a career spanning from 1988 to 2008. Casiano was also a member of the

Puerto Rican national basketball team The Puerto Rico national basketball team ( es, Selección de Baloncesto de Puerto Rico) represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation ( es, link=no, Federación de ...

, he played minimally in 1992 against the dream team and was also a part of the 2004 team that defeated the United States at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. Casiano was an integral part of the San Germán team that won three championships during the 1990s. After being traded to Ponce, Casiano won two more championships with them. After retiring from basketball, Casiano became head coach of the Indios de Mayagüez in 2009. In 2012, he led his team to its first championship in history. In 2016, Casiano was selected as coach of the

Puerto Rico national basketball team The Puerto Rico national basketball team ( es, Selección de Baloncesto de Puerto Rico) represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation ( es, link=no, Federación d ...

Early years and education

Eddie Casiano was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Puerto Rican parents. At the age of 7, he moved to the island with his mother Carmen Ojeda. After establishing in Bayamón, Casiano started practicing basketball with the support of his mother and grandparents. Casiano went to

Lawrence North High School Lawrence North High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The school was founded in 1976 and graduated its first class in 1978. Lawrence North is one of two high schools in the Metropolitan School District of Law ...

in Indianapolis and was teammates with North Carolina standout

Eric Montross Eric Scott “Big Grits” Montross (born September 23, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons with the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets ...

. Casiano and Nelson Quiñones were teenagers at the time (fifteen and seventeen, respectively) and hadn't finished high school yet. During his first years, Casiano was kept mostly on the bench and his contributions were minimal. In 1991, with the departures of Bobby Ríos and Ernesto Malcolm from San Germán, Casiano and Quiñones became starters with 18 and 20 years respectively. Because of their age at the time, the team was nicknamed by the media as ''Los Nenes de San German'' (''San German's Boys''). Their sharpshooting style led the team to three championships during the 1990s (1991, 1994, 1997). During this time, Casiano also participated in his first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, joining Ortiz as a member of the

Puerto Rican National Basketball Team The Puerto Rico national basketball team ( es, Selección de Baloncesto de Puerto Rico) represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation ( es, link=no, Federación de ...

. After the 2000 season, Casiano was traded to the Leones de Ponce along with

Bobby Joe Hatton Roberto José Hatton Negrón (born 11 October 1976) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. Hatton has most notably played for Marist College in the NCAA and for the Arecibo Captains, San Germán Athletics, and Ponce Lions in Pu ...

and Carlos Cortés. As a member of the Leones, Casiano won two more championships (2002 and 2004). Casiano spent the last two years of his career with the

, retiring in 2008 after 20 years of career.

Coaching career

After retiring from the BSN, Casiano became the head coach of the

. He led the team to their first championship in 2012. Casiano also served as head coach in the Mexican professional basketball league. In March 2016, Casiano joined the coaching team of the Cangrejeros de Santurce. He served as assistant to then head coach

Julio Toro Julio Toro (born November 5, 1943) is a Puerto Rican basketball coach. Toro is known for emphasizing the mental aspects of the game and making widespread use of philosophical principles, as well as other unorthodox techniques that include the ...

Player statistics

References

External links

*
Eddie Casiano Profile
on BSNPR.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Casiano, Eddie 1972 births Living people Atléticos de San Germán players Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players from New York City BSN coaches Leones de Ponce basketball players Olympic basketball players of Puerto Rico Pan American Games competitors for Puerto Rico Puerto Rican men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) 1998 FIBA World Championship players Point guards Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games 1994 FIBA World Championship players