Teófilo "Teo" Cruz Downs (January 8, 1942 – August 30, 2005) was a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. After playing college basketball, Cruz played in Puerto Rico's top-level league, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) with Cangrejeros de Santurce,

Indios de Canóvanas The Indios de Canóvanas (lit. "Canóvanas Indians") was a BSN basketball team that was based in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. History The Indios were active for several years in the league, winning the championship in 1983 and 1984. They also reach ...

, Mets de Guaynabo, Cardenales de Río Piedras, and Taínos de Mayagüez. Cruz also played in Spain with

Picadero Damm Picadero Jockey Club, also known until 1970 as Picadero Damm for sponsorship reasons, was a Spanish multisports club from Barcelona founded in 1951. History Overall the club enjoyed its golden era during the 1960s. Throughout this decade its m ...

, and in Belgium with Racing Club Mechelen. Cruz was also a member of the senior Puerto Rican national basketball team, and he represented Puerto Rico in five

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, from

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, making him the first athlete to do so. On March 1, 2007, he became an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hall of Famer.

College career

Cruz played college basketball in the United States. He was originally a member of New York University's NYU Violets (1961–1962), but he transferred to

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate prog ...

, where he was a member of the

Seattle Redhawks The Seattle Redhawks are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams of Seattle University of Seattle, Washington. They compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member institution of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). History Between 1950 and ...

(1962–1965). After his college career, he was selected with the 55th overall pick of the

1965 NBA Draft The 1965 NBA draft was the 19th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 6, 1965, before the 1965–66 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

, by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

Club career

Cruz played for 25 seasons in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) of Puerto Rico. He was the league's Most Valuable Player 4 times. He was also selected the league's Defensive Player of the Year a record five times. He played with the Santurce Crabbers,

, Mets de Guaynabo, Cardenales de Río Piedras, and Taínos de Mayagüez. He also led the league in points per game twice, and was the first player ever to reach 9,000 total points scored in the BSN. In total, he scored 9,535 points, for an average of 16.3 points per game. He also grabbed 4,672 total rebounds, for an average of 8.0 rebounds per game. He also had 605 assists, during his twenty-five-year career.Cruz Downs, Teofilo 'Teo' .
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National team career

Cruz was the starting center of the senior Puerto Rican national basketball team, at the times when Puerto Rico and Brazil were the two dominant teams in the FIBA Americas region, excluding the United States. Cruz was the first men's basketball player to compete at five different

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. That feat was matched twenty years later by Brazilian player Oscar Schmidt, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and later by Australian player Andrew Gaze, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, and by Spanish player Juan Carlos Navarro at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Cruz also played at the

1974 FIBA World Championship The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

, in Puerto Rico, and at numerous

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

and CentroBasket tournaments.

Awards and accomplishments

*2× Puerto Rican BSN League scoring champion: (1960, 1962) *2× Puerto Rican BSN League champion: (1962, 1968) *4× Puerto Rican BSN League MVP: (1962, 1967, 1970, 1971) *6× Puerto Rican BSN League Defensive Player of the Year: (1964, 1966, 1969–1972) *Cruz played at 5

. He played at the Rome 1960 Olympics, at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, at the Mexico 1968 Olympics, at Munich 1972 Olympics, and at the Montreal 1976 Olympics. *Cruz was named one

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. *His number 13 jersey was retired by Cangrejeros de Santurce. * Olympic Order *On March 1, 2007, Cruz was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. Along with Bill Russell and Nikos Galis, he was one of the first sixteen players to be inducted into the international Hall of Fame, as he was a part of the first induction class in history.

Death

Cruz died on August 30, 2005, of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. After his death, on August 31, 2005, the sports complex in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

was named after him, in his honor. Also, before a game between the Puerto Rican and

Venezuelan Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

national teams, a moment of silence was held in his memory.

References

External links

FIBA Profile 1

FIBA Hall of Fame page on Cruz
*
Puerto Rican BSN Profile

Teófilo Cruz

The DraftReview.com Profile

Gallery of Pictures of Puerto Rican players
at enciclopediapr.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Teofilo 1942 births 2005 deaths Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1967 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1971 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Los Angeles Lakers draft picks NYU Violets men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Puerto Rican men's basketball players 1974 FIBA World Championship players Puerto Rico men's national basketball team players Recipients of the Olympic Order Seattle Redhawks men's basketball players Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games