By David Driver, Special Correspondent



The college basketball career of Gabe Norwood, a key four-year player for the Patriots, came to an end in the spring of 2007.  

But a few days later Norwood began a hoop odyssey that would take him to nearly 30 countries - and make him a national basketball hero in a country thousands of miles from Fairfax.

Norwood, a 6-foot-5 sixth man on the Mason Final Four run in 2006, headed to California to take part in tryouts for the national team of the Philippines soon after that CAA tourney in 2007.

"I got a call to go out to LA with the national team, and they had training camp out there. I then came back to Mason and finished school," said Norwood, now 41, whose mother has Filipino roots.

The guard was drafted in the first round as the first overall pick by the Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) and recently concluded a pro career that included:
    *Several appearances with the national team of the Philippines;
    *Won club titles in the PBA as a player, was an 11-time All-Star, All-Star MVP, Dunk Champion and later became a coach there;
    *Traveled to play in several countries in Asia, and training camps in many European countries; he helped the Philippines win FIBA Asia medals in 2013 and 2015.

"To be part of a team that broke the Korean curse and got back to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years was pretty cool," he said of that 2013 history. "We were playing in a new arena, and that place was rocking. It was definitely loud – it was one of those great moments."

    *Had his number retired by his long-time club, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
    *Was a columnist for the Philippine edition of NBA.com.

NATIONAL PRIDE

"It was an honor first and foremost," he said of playing for the national team and the PBA. "My great-grandmother was still alive when I first signed over there. The joy and pride she felt in going back to represent the Filipino side of my family – that was huge. It was a complete honor and nothing I would take for granted. I did not think it would snowball into a jersey retirement."

While his mother has Filipino roots, Norwood's first visit to the Philippines was with a basketball team from Athletes in Action, a wing of Campus Crusade for Christ, prior to his senior year at George Mason.

Travel is part of his DNA.

"I moved around a lot as a kid," said Norwood, whose father has coached with several college football teams. "My Filipino side of the family all came from Hawaii. My mom grew up there, and that is where my parents met."

Norwood gives a lot of credit to the coaches during his time with the Patriots for helping prepare him for a pro career. That includes Jim Larranaga, the head coach who orchestrated the improbable run to an NCAA Regional title and a Final Four berth 20 years ago.

"On the court, Coach L did a great job. I can speak for myself – he put me in many different positions. I was guarding Nick George of VCU as a freshman," Norwood recalled. "I was a backup point guard for (current head coach) Tony Skinn. Coach L put me in different situations, valued me, and helped me prepare for my career. I kind of filled different spots. Off the court, from a cultural standpoint, I was able to tap into the Filipino student body a little bit. Mason's cultural diversity really prepared me for a career overseas. Norwood is not surprised to see former teammate Skinn succeed as a head coach.

"I knew he'd be a leader in some capacity but didn't know it'd be in basketball or whatever else he put his mind to. It has been great to see his rise from grassroots/AAU to some of the top Division I programs in the country after an impressive pro career. His ability to recruit, year after year, is amazing in this landscape of college sports and I don't see him slowing down any time soon," Norwood noted.

After years living abroad with his family, Norwood has been able to reconnect with his Mason family in recent weeks.

BACK TO THE DMV

Along with his wife Lei and three sons, the family moved earlier this year to the Annapolis area. That is a special part of the country for the Norwood family, as his father was a former assistant football coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. Norwood lived in Maryland from fifth through ninth grade, then attended high school in State College, where his father was on the Penn State coaching staff.

His father, Brian, is now on the football coaching staff at San Jose State in California.
A brother, Jordan, played college football at Penn State and spent several years in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl title with the Denver Broncos – thanks in part to a 61-yard punt return by Norwood.

A sister, Brianna, is married to Michael A. Taylor, a former center fielder for the Washington Nationals who won a Gold Glove in 2021 while with the Kansas City Royals. The couple lives in Florida, where Taylor grew up.

The Mason alumni network has a special connection with the Royals, as former baseball standout Dayton Moore was the general manager when Kansas City won the World Series in 2015.
Taylor announced his retirement just before his last game in the majors – in Washington against the Nationals in 2025 while with the Chicago White Sox. Norwood also went out on his own terms.

"I was able to call my retirement," Norwood said. "I had a conversation with management before the season started. It was not as emotional (as expected). I always felt a calling to come back to the area. Having three teenage sons, that was more so part of the timing of the decision. We try to put them in situations outside of sports. They are three pretty intelligent kids that love to be exposed to what the world offers."

"The family of the 41-year-old Fil-Am guard was present for the special moment along with co-team owners Raymund Yu and Terry Que, close friends Chris Ross, Simon Enciso, and Sol Mercado, and the entire Rain or Shine organization as they honor the player who proudly wore the team's blue and yellow jersey his entire 17-year career," the website http://www.spin.ph wrote in April of the Norwood retirement.

Hoops is still part of his DNA.

"I would love to stay around the game and tap into the Mason network," he said. "I will cast a wide net and see where I land."

Editor's note: Virginia native David Driver is the author of "Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas," available on Amazon and at daytondavid.com. Driver has interviewed men and women North American basketball players in nearly 20 countries and has lived in Hungary, Poland and Germany, while also covering the Atlantic 10 Conference for various platforms since the 1990s. He is the former sports editor of papers in Baltimore, Arlington and Harrisonburg, Virginia.