Granddaughter of Gen. Paulino Santos is WNCAA’s tallest basketball player

Cassandra Alicia C. Santos may only be all of 16 years but she has already been causing a stir in the playoffs for the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA).

A 4th year high school student of the San Beda College Alabang where she is a member of the school’s girls basketball team, Cassandra who stands 5 feet and 9.5 inches tall is their tallest player!

This is of no surprise actually because she is a great granddaughter of Gen. Paulino Santos, who himself stands more than six feet tall.

Cassandara’s father Joel, who is a former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player for PRESTO and who now owns one of GenSan’s largest tuna processing firms, the Sta. Cruz Seafoods (one of the sponsors of the MBS2) inside the Gen. Santos Fishport Development Complex is 6’3″ tall.  Her mother Patricia, a former flight stewardess is 5’8″!

That also makes her 3 siblings, a brother and two younger sisters taller than most young people their age.

Maybe because of her height, Cassandra has always wanted to play basketball even when she was just a student at the NDDU from Kindergarten to Grade IV and later transferred to the Quantum Academy in  Barangay San Isidro when she reached Grade V.

At Quantum, she honed not only her academic skills but also her prowess in playing basketball.

Her parents noticing that she could really excel in the sport, decided to enroll her at the San Beda College Alabang when she was a 3rd year high school student because that school has its own junior girls basketball team which they field at the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Assosciation.

This year, she finally was able to play for the WNCAA’s 39th season where she awed the spectators not only with her towering presence but also with her fastbreaks and dunks.

The young athlete has finally realized her dream and is forever thankful that she has very supportive parents who gave her a chance to study in Manila and pursue it.  She’s dedicating all her achievements to them and to the city that her great granddaddy founded.

Cassandra C. Santos. The 1st WNCAA Varsity Player from GenSan. Another awesome General.

Watch out for more of her soon!

Click on these pictures for a larger view.