Gerry Austin T. Abadiano (born March 8, 2001) is a Filipino college basketball player for the UP Fighting Maroons of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
As a Grade 6 student coming from St. Roberts International Academy who had just competed in the Palarong Pambansa, Abadiano was discovered by Coach Goldwin Monteverde, who recruited him to play for Adamson High School beginning in UAAP Season 79 (2016–17 season).
[1][2] Unfortunately, most of their wins that season were forfeited as they fielded an ineligible player in guard Encho Serrano.
[3] After that season, Abadiano, along with his teammate Carl Tamayo, followed Coach Monteverde in transferring from Adamson to Nazareth School of National University.
[5] The NU Bullpups then won tournaments such as the NBTC League (in which he was named Finals Most Outstanding Player),[6] the 2018 Palarong Pambansa (in which he made the Mythical Five along with his teammates Tamayo and Terrence Fortea),[7] and the 2018 ASEAN School Games.
[8] The Bullpups opened their Season 81 campaign in 2018 with a win over the FEU Baby Tamaraws, in which Abadiano scored 10 points and three assists.
[12] In their rematch against Ateneo in the second round of eliminations, Abadiano scored 16 points and they eventually won again.
[13] His performance in that game put him on top of the NBTC UAAP 24 high school rankings.
[18] They also successfully defended their ASEAN School Games title, in which they defeated Indonesia for the gold medal.
[20] NU then swept the Baby Tamaraws in the Finals, with Abadiano contributing in Game 2 with 20 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists.
In his rookie season, he was the backup point guard to JD Cagulangan, and often played the role of a defensive specialist.
In Season 86, after missing two games due to concussion protocol, he returned with 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists in a clutch win over DLSU.
[38] A week later, they rematched, this time without lead guards Cagulangan and CJ Cansino due to a hamstring injury and an illness respectively.