Ismael Romero Fernández (born June 23, 1991) is a Cuban-Puerto Rican professional basketball player for the Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), and the

Puerto Rican national team Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

. Romero formerly represented the

Cuban national team Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

. He played college basketball for

Universidad del Turabo Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

from Puerto Rico.

College career

After leaving Cuba, Romero attended the

of Puerto Rico where he helped his team to win, undefeated, the

Liga Atlética Interuniversitaria de Puerto Rico The Inter-university Athletic League, often abbreviated LAI, is a college athletics conference in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The LAI is a non-profit organization whose main purpose is to regulate sports amongst its member institutions ...

(LAI) in 2014.

Professional career

In 2007, Romero joined local team Villa Clara, where he played for four seasons. On October 31, he was selected by the Grand Rapids Drive in the fourth round of the 2015 NBA Development League Draft. On January 28, 2016, he made his D-League debut in a 90–87 win over the Iowa Energy, recording one point and one rebound in seven minutes. On March 20, 2016, Romero had a double-double in a 102–97 win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, finishing with 13 points, 14 rebounds and three steals, including nine points in the fourth quarter. In 27 games, he averaged 5.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. On April 6, 2016, Romero signed with Atléticos de San Germán of the

Puerto Rican League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

. The next day, he made his debut for San Germán in a 90–75 loss to Vaqueros de Bayamón, recording 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 17 minutes. On May 26, he was named the BSN Rookie of the Year. In 17 games, he averaged 13.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 24.1 minutes. On August 30, 2016, Romero signed with Mexican team

Panteras de Aguascalientes Panteras de Aguascalientes (English: ''Aguascalientes Panthers'') is a Mexican professional basketball team that is based in Aguascalientes City, Mexico. They play in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). Their home arena is Gimnasi ...

. In 24 games, he averaged 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 steals in 23.8 minutes. On January 4, 2017, Romero was reacquired by the Grand Rapids Drive. Two days later, he made his season debut for Grand Rapids in a 126–124 win over the

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

, recording six points, eight rebounds, one steal and two blocks in nine minutes off the bench. On April 1, 2017, Romero signed with Atléticos de San Germán, returning to the team for a second stint. On July 7, 2017, Romero signed with

Hapoel Haifa B.C. Hapoel Haifa Basketball Club is a professional basketball team based in Haifa, Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli basketball. It was founded in 1924, and is owned by Hapoel Haifa Supporters T ...

, Israeli basketball team that play in the Liga Leumit.

International career

When Romero was 19, he played with the Cuba national basketball team at the

2012 Centrobasket The 2012 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as 2012 Centrobasket, was the regional championship of FIBA Americas for Central America and Caribbean subzone, played June 18–24, 2012. The top four teams qua ...

, playing in an 81–61 loss against Bahamas. That very night, Romero, along with four other players of the Cuban selection, abandoned the team and asked for political asylum in Puerto Rico. On September 13, 2021, the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation announced that they had initiated the

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

process with FIBA for Romero to be able to represent the Puerto Rican national basketball team. On October 5, 2021, FIBA authorized the request for Romero's naturalization making him eligible to represent Puerto Rico in future competitions.

Awards and accomplishments

Club

;Vaqueros de Bayamón * BSN champion: (2020 & 2022) ;Quimsa * BCL Americas: (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

)

Individual

* BSN Rookie of the Year: (2016) * LSB Rookie of the Year: (2011) * BCL Americas rebounding leader: (

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

)

References

External links

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Ismael 1991 births Living people Atléticos de San Germán players Puerto Rican men's basketball players Cuban men's basketball players Cuban emigrants to Puerto Rico Defecting sportspeople from Cuba Hapoel Haifa B.C. players Capitanes de Ciudad de México players Grand Rapids Drive players Power forwards Sportspeople from Santa Clara, Cuba Puerto Rican expatriate basketball people in Nicaragua Small forwards Real Estelí Baloncesto players Puerto Rican people of Cuban descent Puerto Rican expatriate basketball people in Israel Puerto Rican expatriate basketball people in Mexico Vaqueros de Bayamón basketball players 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Naturalised basketball players Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for Puerto Rico