Pako Cruz, a kid from Nogales with a basketball dream

MEXICO CITY (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) — When one sees Francisco Cruz — who is known to all as Pako — shoot at the basket and dribble with an absolute naturalness, the first thing that comes to mind is that this 28-year-old shooting guard has never stepped anywhere without a basketball in his hands. This perception turns into an anecdote shared in the protagonist’s timid voice: “my mother always says that I learned to walk while leaning on a ball. In fact, there are some pictures around that evidence that image.” Despite the pictures and the proud motherly tale by María Felicitas, Pako is just recently accepting it as true —he now sees his 11-month son, Francisco Daniel, take his first steps in the same manner.

That ball that has accompanied Pako Cruz since he was very little is not the only thing that linked him to basketball in his first years of life at the humble city of Nogales. His father, Francisco Javier, played in the city's team. Little Pako did not miss any game. During the breaks, he started to roam what would later be his natural habitat.

There, in Nogales, where was Pako’s love for basketball began. That city bordering the homonymous town in Arizona, United States, was Cruz’s birthplace. The modesty of the city in the state of Sonora started to shape that timid yet valiant character of the Mexican player that today shines in his national team. Nogales is the place where the dreams of many of crossing to the United States to build a better future are born. Francisco Cruz was one of those who had the illusion of breaking down those limits in search of athletic and personal growth.

“Nogales is the place where I was born and where I will always want to go back. There I lived with my parents and my sister, who is 7 years younger than I am. It was a very humble home, but my mother's warmth was never lacking and welcomed all of those who came to visit,” Pako shares.

The American dream started to take shape when Cruz realized he had the level for the sport.

“While I was in secondary school, we started to compete in national tournaments with my school and I wanted to try it at a higher level. Because of this, I began to think about going to the United States to be at the world’s best competition. That's when I decided that basketball would be my life.”- Francisco "Pako" Cruz, Mexico.

 When the time came to leave, it was not easy. At the age of 16 he hopped on a car that would take him to the fence that divide Mexico and the United States — without having his papers perfectly in order.

“It was a strange story because I had a tourist visa and I went to study like that. It was something I shouldn’t have done, because every now and then I had to go back to renovate that permit. I don't feel proud of having done it, but at the same time I'm grateful because I used that opportunity to learn, play and improve,” Pako explains.

When Cruz arrived at Lincoln High School in Denver, Colorado, he met his country mate, Jorge Gutiérrez, who received him as a brother and with whom he now participates, for more than five years now, in the Mexican national team. “Jorge was my family at that time and we're friends since then.”

If Cruz had built a tough character in the modest context of Nogales, in Denver it turned even stronger. “It was much colder, there was too much snow during most of the year.” Not only did Pako live in a hostile climate; the lack of money must be mentioned as well. “My parents helped me a bit with what they could take from his (father’s) income, but since that wasn't enough, I tried to make ends meet by shoveling the snow that accumulated at the homes, and that’s how we managed to eat better and go out and have fun.” Housing was not very comfortable: “six of us lived in an apartment. Although there was not enough space for all, we managed all the same,” Cruz chucklingly remembers. “It was very fun and at the same time it helped us mature a lot.”

Francisco's path continued at Western Nebraska Community College. “It was even colder over there. It was during those years when I learned a lot of English because the friends that I talked Spanish to were not there anymore.” Then it was University of Wyoming's turn. He studied Social Sciences there, ended his formation as a player and, if this were not enough, he began his love story with Miriam Alfaro, who played soccer for the university's team. When they both concluded their studies, they continued together Cruz’s sports journey.

“Studying and playing in a university is something that's quite complicated, so when the opportunity came to be a professional, everything was easier because they pay you for playing. There's just a bit more pressure, but it's simpler,” says the shooter who, after playing with Halcones Rojos Veracruz in his country (and a few games with Pioneros de Quintana Roo and Fuerza Guinda de Nogales), left once again. First, he played at Olímpico de La Banda, in Argentina; then, at VEF Riga in Latvia (once again, very cold winters); until he finally reached what today is his place in the world: Fuenlabrada.

 “I decided to play at ACB because I wanted to be in one of the most competitive leagues. Gustavo Ayón had a lot to do with my arrival at Fuenlabrada because he had played there and recommended it as a good opportunity. I'm grateful for that,” Cruz analyzed. “I saw incredible players in Spain and that gives me more hunger to keep growing and not staying with what I've got,” he adds.

All those travels by Pako Cruz, as well as his athletic and economic success, do not make him forget his beginnings. For him it is “a pride to wear the Mexican colors and even more so in these windows system where you can play in front of your people.” The shooting guard is one of the main players of the team coached by Iván Deniz, who are seeking to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup after participating at Spain 2014.

Pako Cruz wants to cross to the other side of the border of Mexico's successes just like he crossed the limits of his country when he was young and seeking to fulfill his dreams.

Pablo Cormick (FIBA)