Terrence Romeo

At 32 years old, Terrence Romeo has this physical status:

Terrence Bill Vitanzos Romeo (born March 16, 1992) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

He served as both a point guard and shooting guard for the Far Eastern University before being selected fifth overall in the 2013 PBA draft by GlobalPort.

He was the 2011 UAAP Rookie of the Year, was a member of the UAAP Mythical Team during his junior and senior years, and the 2014 UAAP men's basketball Most Valuable Player was named.

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Amateur career

Before being scouted by Far Eastern University – Diliman, Romeo first played for the Letran Squires. He spent only one season as a Baby Tamaraw before graduating to the seniors division. He is best known for scoring 83 points in the UAAP Juniors basketball record, surpassing the previous record of 69 points held by former Junior Maroons player Paolo Mendoza. What's more impressive is that he did it in 31 minutes of playing time, scoring 33 points in the 3rd quarter alone. He was named UAAP' Most Valuable Player (2009), with averages of 37.1ppg 4.0spg.

For Romeo, it was a little difficult change from the juniors to the seniors division. Despite being voted the best rookie in the court with then UAAP MVP RR Garcia, the younger guard was still struggling, particularly because he was relegated to the second option (something he wasn't used to). In his rookie season, Romeo's shooting percentage was much below par, scoring just over 8.9 points (for his purposes).

The scoring guard did not do any better this season. He had an average of 11.41 points in 3.24 asst. 4.76reb. Both he and Garcia made a formidable pair. They advanced to the finals of FEU, only to lose in a best of three series against Ateneo.

Romeo became (arguably) the first choice of the team in UAAP Season 75. After last year's heartbreaking loss, he's become a more threatening scorer, averaging 18.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg. He was given a spot in the mythical five thanks to his outstanding results.

Romeo was expected to lead the Tamaraws in scoring in his last year as half of FEU's feared backcourt pairing. He scored 30 points in three games over the course of the season, making him one of only three players since 2003 (the other two being Patrick Cabahug and Bobby Ray Parks Jr.) to score more than once. He was named Most Valuable Player by the University of Arizona in 76. Following Garcia and PBA legend Johnny Abarrientos, he became the third guard to win the award. He had 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 steals to lead the league in points and steals while finishing third in assists.

He utilised his time in college to play for the Big Chill Super Chargers.

After realizing that he would have to wait until 2015 to be eligible in the PBA, he decided to forego his final playing year.

Professional career

Romeo was selected as the 5th overall pick by GlobalPort, and he wore the same No 7 jersey he wore in college. Robert Jaworski was his father's hero, according to him, who uses the same jersey number. He buried 34 points in his second game as a pro, while going 6-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc en route to a victory over Air21 Express.

He had the opportunity to play against Canton in their first showdown against each other, scoring 27 points and leading a spirited second-half comeback that almost denied Ginebra a 109–104 victory. Romeo was the closest player to him, according to Casio, who scored 29 points himself. Casoa was one of his idols growing up, according to the rookie guard.

With these performances, the former king tamaraw was a natural scorer as a pro. Throughout the season, brilliance has shined. But he struggled with consistency, as he wasn't able to produce the same eye-popping numbers in the later conferences. Despite this, he was considered a rising star, dazzling the audience with his dribbling skills and scoring prowess.

Romeo debuted a slimmer and leaner body at the start of the season. Weight loss in a total of 25 pounds. “Sobrang nahod ko, sobrang nahihirapan akong guma law,” he said, causing him to shed the excess weight. This resulted in a much quicker and more vibrant version of himself.

Globalport was expected to make it deeper into the playoffs in their first conference with a more physically fit Romeo. Even more so, since the spitfire guard was sharing the court with skilled guards; veteran guard Alex Cabagnot and top rookie Stanley Pringle were dubbed a "three-headed monster" by veteran guard Alex Cabagnot and top rookie Stanley Pringle. Cabagnot was actually traded for former World Port player Sol Mercado of the San Miguel Beermen before the start of the playoffs, but not before the game. They eventually lost to Ginebra who had a double chance in phase one of the quarter finals with little time to adjust.

Cabagnot's departure contributed to Romeo's ascension to fame, as he was able to develop into the team's first scoring option. In the 2015 PBA Commissioner's Cup, he led the locals in points per game, winning by 21.36 points. During the All-Star Weekend in Puerto Princesa, he also made an appearance. In the rookies vs. sophomores blitz game, Scoring a whopping 50 points, despite losing effort. He was also the PBA Three-Point Shootout champion (2015) and the PBA All-Star Game MVP (2015), capsing off a memorable weekend for the young guard. Despite his efforts, the team wasn't able to get back to the win column in their remaining games after the all-star break. Stanley Pringle (who was recovering from an injury) was a factor in the conference's poor finish.

Romeo was named Most Improved Player after leading GlobalPort to its best finish in the 2015 PBA Governors' Cup. He was the top local scorer in the third conference and the season. Shine Elasto Painters' Rain or Shine Elasto Painters was a game highlight from my career. He starred as the scoring champion and was also featured in the PBA Mythical Second Team (2015).

Romeo's third season in PBA was off to a promising start. He and backcourt mate Pringle formed the Slash Brothers tandem (similar to Golden State Warriors' Splash Brothers). Both the team led the team in scoring with 24.06 and 19.61 points, respectively, while leading GlobalPort to its first ever Semi-Finals appearance against Alaska, but the team was disqualified from the game. In Game 1, he earned their first victory in the game series, leading to a new career-high 41 points.

PBA Leo Awards Night, Romeo was recognized on October 14, 2016, as he was named to the PBA Mythical First Team.

He requested to be dismissed on 2018 after disagreeing with coach Pido Jarencio. In exchange for Moala Tautuaa, he was traded to TNT KaTropa with Yousef Taha.

On December 16, 2018, He was traded to San Miguel Beermen in exchange for Brian Heruela and David Semerad. Romeo had 7 points and 4 assists in just 11 minutes of playing time in his first game with the Beermen, but lost 124-118 to Columbian Dyip.

Romeo came off the bench and scored 29 points and made 6 3-pointers in a 127-125 double overtime victory in Game 2 of the 2019 Commissioner's Cup Finals.

PBA career statistics

As of the end of 2021 season

National team career

Romeo is a player from Manila West. With Nio Canaleta, Rey Guevarra, and Aldrech Ramos and Raphael De Vera, three pros with so much more experience than him. None of the three players has trained for the national team before. But the team's true "star" of the team, 22-year-old Romeo, had just completed his first year in the PBA, was still on the team.

The game was a good match for the flashy guard's one on one playing style. With his crossovers and a diverse variety of scoring moves, he brought the most raucous cheers from the crowd.

The Manila West was crowned champions of the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila Masters by Romeo. They won US$10,000. More importantly, they qualified for the World Tour Masters in Tokyo on October 11-12. They competed against the top two teams of each of the tour's five stops.

Despite making some headway during the first day of the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final, Team Manila West was unable to maintain its energy in the knockout stage as the team lost to Slovenian squad Kranj, 21–12, defeating them in the quarterfinal round. They finished fifth in the tournament's pool of 12 international teams, with five ranks higher than their original classification ranking as a 10th seed in the pool of 12 international teams before the tournament's launch.

The 6'0" Romeo was named as one of the season's top point producers for the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Tour's qualifying legs. Romeo's total score in the 8 matches he had competed in included the Manila Masters leg and the Final in Sendai, Japan, with both in the Manila Masters leg and the Final. This ranked him 11th overall in terms of scoring output out of the 290 participants in the 33 World Tour's 2014 season's edition.

The GlobalPort scorer was ranked as the best 3x3 player outside of Europe, Americas, and Qatar, and has therefore earned his team a spot in the All-Star exhibition. He is ranked as the Philippines' top-ranked musician.

Terrence Romeo's spectacular one-on-one skills were once more on full display as the face of the 2015 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila Masters, as he shone for the Manila West team in the tournament.

He was not able to lead Manila West back to the championship, but he and Manila West lost to Manila North (composed of Calvin Abueva, Vic Manuel, Troy Rosario, and Karl Dehesa) in the semi-finals, but Romeo did have some hardware.

He was voted MVP of the tournament after leading all scorers with 43 points in four games.

In 2015, Romeo was assigned to the Gilas Pilipinas 3.0 training pool and joined the team in Estonia for a pocket tournament. He was also involved in the 2015 William Jones Cup, where he debuted as the crowd adorned, wowing Filipino, and Taiwanese Fans alike with his crafty handles and scoring skills, despite a stat-line of 15.2 points in just 18 minutes of play per game in the tournament. Following his Jones Cup triumph, he was a member of the Gilas final lineup in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, and he had his best game against powerhouse Iran and India.

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