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Erica de Luna is one of one.
While her coaches, family, and relatives celebrated her historic feat, the 18-year-old guard said she really wanted to leave a mark before wrapping up her high school basketball career.
“To be honest, I’m still speechless about it,” De Luna told Rappler in Filipino, just days after recording the UAAP’s first quadruple-double — the rare feat of posting double-digit numbers in four statistical categories in a single game.
“I never knew I was the first player to do it until someone told me.”
On March 2, De Luna recorded 32 points, 16 rebounds, 12 steals, and 11 assists to steer the La Salle Zobel Junior Lady Archers to a dominant 114-24 win against the Ateneo Blue Eagles, making her the first UAAP player ever across all basketball divisions to pull off the exploit.
“I still cannot believe I’ve done it,” De Luna said.
Perhaps because it’s as close as one could get to a basketball Holy Grail. The accomplishment, which is a tier above the more oft-seen triple-double, is often reserved to legendary players for their all-around work and versatility when inside the court.
It has been so rare that only four players have accomplished the feat in the NBA. In the Philippines, only two players in the professional ranks have made it to the ultra-rare class, namely Kyt Jimenez in 2022 in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Donbel Belano in 1999 in the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA).
Notably, no PBA player has done it in the premier professional league’s 50-year history.
Fittingly, it was De Luna’s final UAAP high school game, fulfilling what no one across five basketball divisions of the league has done before.
“As a woman, I feel so proud of myself because we know basketball is a male-dominated sport. It just proved that we can do it too,” the Grade 12 student-athlete said.
De Luna shared her feat opened many doors ahead of her high school graduation, including scholarship opportunities from some of the big UAAP schools.
“There were scholarships offered during the past week from high-end schools. It was unexpected for me,” she said.
That history-making performance, De Luna said, was the fruit of years of hard work, starting when she was just a 7-year-old kid competing against boys the same age as her.
De Luna found inspiration in her father, Eric, who used to play in inter-barangay leagues. As a young girl, Erica watched her father’s games from the sidelines, taking mental notes even then to enhance her own skills.
The budding hooper then sharpened her wares in Muntinlupa’s basketball circuit, where some of the UAAP’s brightest stars started, such as Kevin Quiambao and Kean Baclaan.
There, De Luna rose as one of its best women’s basketball prospects, earning her a spot in leagues, including one in Dubai, where she won MVP after leading the Philippines in the 2024 International Youth Basketball Championship.
She was also a two-time WNCAA High School Division Mythical Five awardee, before the La Salle Zobel program recruited her ahead of the girls’ basketball revival in the UAAP this year.
“Playing in the UAAP stage is always a dream for me. I feel blessed considering I had the chance to break a record in the league. Hopefully, it’s just the beginning for me,” De Luna, who is a product of Buli Elementary School, said.
“Ever since I started in elementary school, I never dreamed of everything that is happening right now. It was something that made me so happy about my career so far,” she added.
Prior to her quadruple-double game, De Luna also recorded a triple-double of 34 points, 13 steals, and 12 rebounds against the same Ateneo squad. The Junior Lady Archers finished the season in third place with a 2-4 record in the four-team tournament.
But while she remained on a high following the rare stat line, De Luna is not letting her foot off the gas, as she hopes her performance did not just lift her value for college teams, but also made her a prospect for the national team.
“I’ve always looked up to those playing in the national team,” she said, pointing her desire to play for the Gilas Pilipinas Women in the future.
“I know it is still far (in the future) but I’m willing to do whatever it takes since it has always been my biggest dream,” De Luna said.
For now, she aims to improve her mental fortitude, a facet of her game she admits to be still a work in progress.
De Luna hopes to address this by exposing herself to more competitions ahead of what would be a much-anticipated rookie season in college as a sought-after prospect.
“There are times that I did not feel as confident. Maybe. It’s something that I still need to work on more, especially now that I’ll be going to college soon,” she said. “And more especially now that the expectations for me are higher than before.”
One thing is for certain: she is up to the tall task.
“I have to make the most of the opportunities now. I want to prove myself.” – Rappler.com
