Hotshot Allan Caidic is one seven new inductees into the PBA Hall of Fame, along with Avelino “Samboy” Lim, Hector Calma, Fil-Am Ricardo Brown, Bobby Parks, the late Emilio P. Bernardino Jr. and Carlos “Honeyboy” Palanca III.

was a teammate of co-honoree Ricardo Brown when he made his PBA debut in 1987.

In a rare twin feat that season, the 6-foot-2 forward out of the University of the East romped away with Rookie of the Year honors and earned a spot on the Mythical First Five.

In 1990, Caidic was named the league’s MVP in 1990 with Presto. The following year, on November 21, the man they fondly called “The Triggerman” for his prolific shooting skills exploded for 79 points in powering Tivoli (nee Great Taste and Presto) to a 162-149 thumping of Ginebra San Miguel.

To date, Caidic’s stunning 79-pointer still stands as the all-time single-game scoring high by a homegrown Filipino player in PBA history. His 17 three-pointers in that contest also were the most by a local or import in league annals.

The Pasig City-born Caidic retired as player in 1999 after subsequent stops with San Miguel Beer (1993-98) and Barangay Ginebra. In 13 seasons and 598 games, he tallied 11,719 markers (10th highest in league history) for a 19.6-point average (fourth highest ever by a local).

Parks was one of the most prodigious imports in PBA history, suiting up for 13 seasons from 1987 through 1999. The 6-foot-4 forward from Grand Junction, Tennessee donned the colors of San Miguel Beer as a rookie pro, averaging 40 points in 23 assignments while leading the Beermen to the Reinforced crown and collecting the Best Import award in the Open Conference.

However, it was with Shell, where he spent the final dozen seasons of his pro life, that Parks found his niche. A third-round draft pick of the Atlanta Hawks in 1984, the Memphis State University product had games of 71 and a career-best 72 points in 1988 and 1989, respectively, with Shell. In 1989, he hit at a 52.6-point clip in 23 contests.

A seven-time recipient of the Best Import award from 1987 through 1992, Parks owns averages of 40.5 points and 15.2 rebounds in 221 games overall and normed at least 23 ppg (his finale) every season. His 8,955 career markers are the second highest – behind only Norman Black – among the imports in PBA annals.

The late Bernardino, who was simply known as Jun to his friends and “Ibok” to media people, rose from the ranks in the PBA. In the early 1980s, he did the “Man on the Ball” interviewing chores for the Vintage Enterprises crew that covered the PBA games.

Subsequently, Bernardino was the executive secretary/director to founding PBA commissioner Leo Prieto and his successors Mariano Yenko Jr. and Rudy Salud. During the term of commissioner Rey Marquez, he served as the executive director and deputy commissioner.

In 1994, Bernardino was named the PBA’s commissioner. Until his retirement in 2002, the well-loved Bernardino ably steered the league ship through turbulent waters – a time when the PBA was seemingly challenged by the arrival of the (now-defunct) Metropolitan Basketball Association.

The lone posthumous Hall of Fame awardee, Bernardino, the longest-serving commissioner in PBA annals, died of heart failure on March 24, 2007 at the age of 59.

In our next column, we’ll share with you the accomplishments of Carlos “Honeyboy” Palanca, one of the most dashing and debonair PBA team owners during the late 1970s and 1980s.