SEVERAL of Cebu’s finest basketball players, including a former Cesafi MVP, are getting the chance to prove themselves on a much larger basketball stage after Manila-based commercial basketball team Mighty Sports tabbed them to possibly join the squad in time for the opening of two leagues.
Picked to join the squad at the conclusion of the two-day tryouts last weekend were former University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) guards James Regalado and Iron Suano, former University of the Visayas (UV) stalwarts John Abad, Rhaffy Octobre and Edrian Lao and former two-time Cesafi MVP, Enrico Llanto, who is on the road to resurgence after seeing his once-promising career stall not long after his collegiate stint.
According to Mighty Sports team manager Jean Alabanza, he, along with head coach Mike Fermin and assistant Charles Tiu, came away impressed with what they saw from the crop of players that trooped to the Cebu Coliseum to try their luck at making the team.
“As we all know, Cebu has its own brand of basketball – fast-paced and rugged. Medyo kulang lang sa polish so that’s why we asked them to run set plays towards the end of the scrimmages to see how well they can adapt because in Manila, the games tend to slow down and become more methodical,” said Alabanza in an exclusive talk with Cebu Daily News.
“We really like the players that we picked. We’ve already gotten their contact details and we’re hoping we can come to an agreement with them in the next few days,” Alabanza added.