LEONARD Santillan paid the ultimate tribute to recently-retired teammate Gabe Norwood by posting a photo from 15 years ago showing him with his future team captain at Rain or Shine.
In a Facebook post just before the end of 2025, Santillan published an old photo taken in 2011 that had him posing for a snapshot with the then-rising star of the Elasto Painters. He recalled to SPIN.ph that the photo was taken in Cebu City.
“May basketball clinic sila (Gabe) sa Cebu kasama si coach Yeng [Guiao] and Sonny Thoss (of Alaska),” said the 6-foot-4 big from Lapu-Lapu City.
Santillan said he was around 14 or 15 years old that time.
Unknowingly, not only will he cross paths with the Fil-Am guard in the PBA a decade later, Norwood would also end up as his teammate.
That became possible when RoS made the big man out of La Salle the No. 5 pick overall during the Season 46 draft.
Never did Santillan imagine that he’d be able to play alongside Norwood.
“Hindi talaga. Dati masaya na ako makita lang siya, pero yung maging isang teammate mo pa, isang karangalan talaga yun,” he said.
READ: Yeng on Gabe Norwood: 'He's the epitome of loyalty, decency'
No wonder, Santillan fittingly captioned his Facebook post with the words, ‘Thank you, Gabe Norwood. It was an honor to be your teammate.’
After 17 years playing for only one team, Norwood officially retired from the PBA following the Elasto Painters' exit in the Season 50 Philippine Cup with a 98-89 loss to Meralco in the quarterfinals.
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