AS a teenager playing high school basketball in the US, first with athletic powerhouse Mater Dei and later at Walnut High School, Dwight Ramos was a world away from the Philippines, chasing his goal of playing in NCAA Division I and later in the NBA.
Unknown to him, several sets of eyes were already watching. Keenly.
"He wasn’t that good or big then, but we already kept tabs on him," says former Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes, citing a 'network of contacts' in the US and Europe that kept an eye on players with Filipino blood who were coming up the ranks.
READ Chot '23 for '23' Gilas pool World Cup. Where are they now?
"Then Dwight made the Cal State Fullerton roster, a D1 school, [and] that made me decide to include him in the list together with Remy Martin and AJ Edu," adds Reyes.
By list, Chot meant the Gilas 23 for '23' list that he put together back in 2018: a pool of 23 of the most promising youngsters, both homegrown and based overseas, from where the Gilas team to the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila was supposed to be formed.
Dwight says that until someone informed him at Cal State about it, the only connection he had with Philippine basketball was Jimmy Alapag, who hailed from the same area in California; and the only player he knew from the '23 for '23' list was Kobe Paras, who by then was making makes in the US varsity scene.
"I was at practice, just shooting, warming up. And then they said, 'Hey, there's somebody here. They want to talk to you from the Philippines.' I had no idea. They started talking to me about the 23 for '23 [list]," Ramos recalls.
"I didn't even know what it was at first. And then they told me, and I started looking online to try and figure out what it was. And that's when I realized, you know, that I was getting looked at for the World Cup."
Needless to say, that single contact changed the life of the handsome, soft-spoken son of an Ilocano father and Russian mom, who, in no time, decided to pack his bags and go on an adventure of a lifetime with his younger brother Eli.
"Coming to the Philippines was a really big risk, because I knew nothing about how life was here. So when I came here, I just tried to look at what's good here. How am I going to make it? How am I going to survive? I just had to find my basics. Where am I going to get my haircut? Where can I get groceries? The gym?" Dwight says.
The brothers' plan to play college ball together in the UAAP didn't quite work out, no thanks to the pandemic. But what Dwight didn't expect was that he was set to embark on something bigger as he found his way into the Philippines' national team program.
In just a few years, Dwight turned from a US-based teen with so little knowledge of Philippine basketball into a cornerstone of its national team.
"Dwight has definitely been the mainstay of the program. Always available, always willing," says Gilas coach Tim Cone. "He really represents the country well, not just as a player, but as an example of how the game should be played."
Ramos recalls that it was his bro Eli who made him aware that after his Gilas debut game under Tab Baldwin in a win over Indonesia in a FIBA Asia Cup qualifier in February 2020, Dwight has started every Gilas game he has played since.
It started with Gilas' next game in that Manama, Bahrain bubble against Thailand, where a young Ramos went unconscious with 20 points on a perfect 7-of-7 clip including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc to go with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in Gilas' 93-61 win.
"Coach Tab told me after that game, 'Your life is about to change,'" he says.
It did.
Ramos has now played in 42 FIBA games in a stretch that spanned one Basketball World Cup in 2023 in Manila, one FIBA Asia Cup, and a number of memorable Olympic qualifiers, posting solid averages of 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
He was not only showing up, he was showing off. Game after game. Regardless of who he was playing with or whoever was calling the shots, whether it was Baldwin or Reyes or Cone. He has become Gilas' most dependable player. He has become its constant.
That mindset, Ramos says, he got from his parents.
"My parents always told me, 'It doesn't matter if people say the coach is good. Or the coach is bad. You can always learn something from them.' So from every coach I had, I just tried to learn something from them," says the 6-4 guard.
"They had all different styles. Different philosophies. I just wanted to be part of the team.
And I'm just going to learn whatever they have to give. I don't listen to what everyone says. There can be a lot of people talking bad about somebody. But you see for yourself. You can always find something good. Open mind always."
Gilas cornerstone
Both Cone and Reyes have a pretty good idea why Ramos has become the cornerstone of this Gilas era. Let them explain.
"Dwight has started every [Gilas] game because he’s a complete player. A three-way scorer who is also the team’s top defensive stopper. Also, he’s very versatile. We’ve played him at point versus bigger teams, and at 4 versus smaller, quicker lineups," says Reyes.
"But his most important trait is that he’s the ultimate team player. He will do whatever the coach asks him to do, plus more," Reyes continues.
Cone echoed Reyes' words.
"He's the complete player, outstanding on both sides of the ball," says the concurrent Ginebra coach. "And truly a dream to coach."
With Gilas, Ramos knows that he has found his life calling. Dwight figures that at 28, he has one World Cup left in him. Or perhaps two. Whatever, he vows to keep answering the Gilas call, for so long as he is deemed good enough to be playing for it.
With the Philippines, Ramos is also sure he has found a home. He may have been raised in the States, or plays pro ball in Japan, but he's sure this country is where his heart is.
How does he know?
"When I'm not here, I always miss everything about the Philippines," he says. "That's how I know. So yeah, it's definitely my home."
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