33  Francisco Cruz
	Class: Senior Hometown: Nogales, Mexico High School: Abraham Lincoln (Denver) Last College: Western Nebraska CC, Neb. Height / Weight: 6-3 / 217 Position: Guard

2011-12: An Honorable Mention All-Mountain West selection, Cruz was one of two Cowboys to start all 33 games during the 2011-12 season. He averaged 12.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game, including scoring in double figures 20 times. His 12.0 points and 2.2 assists were second on the team, while his 36.7 percent from beyond the arc and 32.3 minutes per game led the Cowboys. Cruz's best performance of the season was a 30-point effort against Northern Colorado on Nov. 15, during which he went 16-of-20 at the free throw line. He scored more than 20 points three times during the season and topped the 500-point mark on Jan. 9 against Idaho State. He posted eight games with more than four assists. Cruz scored in double figures in all three games of the Jim Thorpe Classic on Thanksgiving weekend to earn All-Tournament team.

During the summer of 2011, Cruz was selected to play with the Mexican team in the World University Games. He contributed 9.9 points per game, third on the team, to go with a team-high 2.6 assists. He also averaged 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest.

2010-11: In his first season at Wyoming, Cruz made an immediate impact. He was one of two players who played in all 31 games, with starts in 30 of those games. He averaged 10.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists a game. He scored in double figures 16 times, 10 of which came during MW play. He eclipsed the 20-point mark once as he scored a career high 21 points against Colorado State on Feb. 5. He second-best scoring game of the season was 18 points at BYU on March 5.

Cruz led the Cowboys in both three pointers made (48) and three-point percentage (.381), while ranking seventh in the MW in three-point field goal percentage and 10th in made threes per game (1.55). He ranked fifth in the MW in minutes played in league games with an average of 35.38. He played all 40 minutes in five games--vs. New Mexico, at TCU, vs. UNLV, vs. BYU and vs. Colorado State. He also played 39 against Utah and at BYU. He played 966 minutes during the year (an average of 31.2 per game), which was the most minutes by any Cowboy.

His greatest play of the season came against New Mexico on Jan. 8. With less than a second remaining and the Cowboys trailing by one, he hit an improbable shot from the baseline at the buzzer to give the Pokes the win.

Before Wyoming: During the 2009-10 season at Western Nebraska CC, Cruz was the No. 22 ranked scorer among National Junior College Division I players. He was rewarded by his selection to the All-Region 9 First Team. He averaged 20.0 points a game, made 92 three pointers and shot 47 percent from three-point land. He shot 45 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free-throw line. He also averaged 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals a game. He started all 32 games and helped lead the Cougars to a 19-13 overall record. His best game of the season came when he scored 41 points in a win over Eastern Wyoming. On the year, Cruz made three or more three pointers in 18 of 32 games.

As a freshman at WNCC, Cruz knocked down 41 three pointers and scored 460 points. He was selected as the school's most valuable male athlete.

In his career at WNCC, Cruz became only the 12th player in school history to score over 1,000 career points. He ended his career with 1,099 points.

Cruz moved from Mexico to Denver prior to his junior year of high school. In Denver, Cruz prepped at Abraham Lincoln High School and helped lead his school to the 4A State Title both seasons. As a senior, Cruz was named the Class 4A Player of the Year by both the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. Each publication also selected him as the Most Valuable Player of the Colorado State Tournament. He played in three Colorado All-State games during his career.

Personal: Cruz, who goes by the nickname Paco, was born on Oct. 3, 1989 in Nogales, Mexico. He is the son of Maria and Francisco and has a sister named Lluvia. He can speak both Spanish and English fluently, but Spanish was his first language. Paco is majoring in international studies at UW.

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