Unknown to many some of the top Davao City residents who played basketball in Metro Manila used to live in Barangay San Antonio, Agdao, Davao City.
Leading the way for these cagers is PBA legend Alvin "Robocop" Teng, who played in the PBA for 14 seasons and helped San Miguel Beer win some of its championships in the oldest basketball league in Asia.
Teng, was a late bloomer in basketball, having only started in 1983 while playing for the Rizal Memorial College in his hometown.
After a year with the RMC, Alvin enrolled at the Harvardian University in Davao, where he also played for the school team. He soon made it to a selection of Davaoeños which participated in the PABL Founder's Cup. Thus was his first taste of commercial ball-playing in the Big City.
While playing for the All-Stars, Alvin was spotted by Arellano team manager and then PABL president Peter Cayco and was promptly recruited to the Flaming Arrows' bench. After enrolling in a management course in Arellano, he played for seven months with the varsity squad before closing out the 1984 PABL season with the ITM team. Teng played for Lagerlite Beer the following year and in September 1986, he was elevated to the pros, along with Magnolia teammate Jeffrey Graves, when the SMC ballclub decided to return to the PBA after a two-conference leave.
Aside from Teng, Mark Cagoco, a former Holy Cross of Davao College Crusader also got recruited and played for Jose Rizal University in the NCAA.
Recently, George Diamante Jr., also a resident of Barangay San Antonio helped the Letran Squires win its two successive NCAA high basketball championships.
Barangay San Antonio captain Roger Galido, an avid basketball fan and former player himself is very happy and proud that some of the top basketball players in the country come from his barangay.(Romeo Braceros Jr.)
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