Copa McDonald′s

 

2005 Tropics Pull Stunner In Puerto Rico

 

In the summer of 2005, the Tropics were invited to San Juan, Puerto Rico to compete in the Copa McDonald's tournament.

Head Coach Art "Pilin" Alvarez and assistants Miguel Mercado and Butch Estes had only 10 days to put together a team of amateurs and young pros that would be good enough to hopefully challenge the Puerto Rican national team as well as Argentina's and Puerto Rico's Under-21 squads.

The Tropics did more than compete - they shocked all three teams and won the championship despite not practicing once either before or during the tournament. The stunned newspapers in Puerto Rico provided major coverage of the event.

The Tropics' key players included point guards Ronnie Taylor and Denis Clemente, shooting guard Marcus Barnes and forwards Stuard Baldonado, Sylbrin Robinson, Javorie Wilson and Sammy Hernandez.

Taylor was dominant at point guard. Clemente, who had just graduated high school, was fearless, hitting numerous three-pointers against much older players. And Baldonado, who is 6-7, successfully battled against players who were as much as 8 inches taller.

"That still has to rank as the biggest upset and one of the biggest accomplishments in the history of our program," Alvarez said. "We were the talk of Puerto Rico, and people still remember what we did. It was incredible."

 

PHOTOS

 

TROPICS WIN COPA McDONALD'S