Lumen Vera, first foreigner in basketball Santiago; He played as a native – Momento Deportivo RD

Lumen Vera Colón/ External Source.

By Tuto Tavarez

The first foreigner who played in the Superior Basketball of Santiago, was not reinforcement.

*

At the end of the 1970s, the Puerto Rican Lumen Vera Colón enrolled at the Madre y Maestra Catholic University, which was not yet Pontifical.

*

One afternoon, the medical student was playing basketball on the University court.

*

Guillermo Ottenwalder and Martín Rivas, who were there, observed the skills of the young Puerto Rican, who was a machine for making points.

*

This is how Lumen Vera was invited to join the defunct Santiago Balón Club, which was the main basketball entity in this city.

*

Lumen’s fame began to spread throughout the city and when the category B tournament was organized he was included in the squad of Club Domingo Paulino.

*

Lumen lived in the lower part, near La Joya and around the Club Fernando Valerio (La Plaza).

*

When the first Superior Basketball Tournament was organized in 1981, the teams were Cupes, Plaza Valerio, GUG and Sameji.

*

With the absence of the CDP in that first tournament and the proximity to La Joya, Lumen was registered to play with Plaza Valerio, as a native, there were no reinforcements.

*

In 6 games of the Regular Series he scored 89 points for an average of 14.8, from 11-11 free throws, grabbed 38 rebounds and 4 assists.

*

Graduated from medicine, Lumen returned to Aibonito, Puerto Rico, but did not separate himself from basketball.

*

Dr. Lumen Vera was in charge of the Polluelos de Aibonito and the Toritos de Cayey, both missing teams and last year with the Atléticos de San Germán.

*

It is part of the Menonita Cima Hospital in Aibonito and the jeweler Kito Nolasco tells me that from time to time he stops by La Joya to say hello to his friends.

*

The Puerto Rican student, the first foreigner to play in the Superior Basket, is today a prestigious doctor, without his lush beard and long hair.

*

SQUEEZE PLAY: Paco de Lucía’s mother’s name was Lucía…Is there a long way to go until February 27?…Athlete César García says that instead of Darío López, whom Ernesto Rosario puts at third base, he would put Pedro Gómez…Lineup A by Eduardo Núñez…Aquiles Peña (CF), Anthony Llenas (DH), Maney Cabreja (3B), Yeyo Castro (1B), Juan Germosén (2B), Héctor Camacho (RF), Enrique Wilson (LF), Virgilio Veras (C ), Tomás Liriano (SS) and Simón Domínguez (P)…Manager Freddy Toribio, assistant Leo Espaillat; coaches Danilo Calderón and Freddy “Yegui” Martínez…Chichí Pérez coach…Juan Isidro Castillo as masseuse, Teodoro Gómez (Tipié) as bat picker and Eduardo Núñez practice catcher…Take Flaco there…He told me “My Tarnished Crystal Ball”, which Every second around 2000 aspirins are consumed in the world… For today, out 27.

Caption

Lumen Vera