Menk back in active duty

After missing the Fiesta Cup and the early part of the current San Mig Coffee-backed tourney, Eric Menk suits up anew with Barangay Ginebra versus Talk n Text today following the reprieve he got from a new

PBA board decision reached Monday.

Though suspended in the league for six months, Menk could make an immediate impact in his return stint with Ginebra since the 6-foot-6 burly Fil-Am has never stopped working out with the Kings.

But despite the return of Menk, the Kings will have their hands full against the Phone Pals who set out for their 7:25 p.m. tiff at the Araneta Coliseum riding the crest of four straight victories. The Kings have lost their last two outings.

Migs Noble was relegated to the reserve list on Menk’s comeback. Also put on the reserve list was Aris Dimaunahan as the Ginebra coaching staff reactivated Egay Echavez.

Menk, the Most Valuable Player awardee last season, easily fit into Kings equation since he still has an existing contract with the team. Menk was the PBA rebounding king with 11.8 rebounds a game and third best scorer with an average of 17.5 points last campaign.

Coca-Cola takes on Purefoods Chunkee in the day’s other game at 4:40 p.m. But at press time, it’s still uncertain whether Rafi Reavis would rejoin the Tigers.

Apparently, Reavis and the team management were still negotiating for a new contract.

The Tigers introduce a new import in Omar Thomas in a bid to check a two-game skid. Coca-Cola is currently at eighth place with a 1-3 win-loss record.

Thomas, who replaced Alex Carcamo, is a 6-foot-5 guard-forward, fresh out of the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) where he averaged 20.5 points and 6.7 rebounds as a senior.

He led the Miners to the most recent WAC Championship and a spot in the NCAA proper where he scored 24 points in a loss to Utah featuring future NBA top draft pick Andrew Bogut.

Like Sonics guard Ronald "Flip" Murray, Thomas is a product of Strawberry Mansion High School in North Philadelphia. Thomas started his college career at Panola Junior College and Texas, where he put up video-game numbers — 34.3 points and 19.1 rebounds per game as a freshman, 36.1 and 17.1 as a sophomore — and became the all-time leading scorer in the history of JC basketball.