MANILA, Philippines – Former PBA superstars Cyrus Baguio, Ronald Tubid and Rommel Adducul are several of the players set to see action in the new league Pinoyliga Cup set to open with its Inter-Alumni tournament Saturday, July 2, at the Gatorade Hoops Gym in Mandaluyong City.
Tubid, who played college ball for University of the East, said that he is excited to see former collegiate rivals like Baguio of University of Santo Tomas and relive their glory days when they were starting their basketball careers in the UAAP before they moved to the pro ranks.
“I’m very excited of course, we get to play our former college rivals like UST,” said Tubid, who was selected 16th overall in the 2003 PBA Rookie Draft and played until the 2019 Season.
“This is a good avenue for us former players, either in the PBA or amateur ranks, to get to wear our school colors… play for our Alma Mater in a recreational tournament but is of high quality basketball,” said Tubid, who is currently the team manager of the Terrafirma Dyip in the PBA.
Aside from playing against his former rivals in the collegiate level, Tubid will also get a chance to team up again with former UE teammate Paul Artadi, and former Red Warriors in Mar Morelos and Braulio Lim.
The same goes for Baguio, who is expected to play alongside former UST greats Chris Cantonjos, Estong Ballesteros and Richard Yee — all part of the Tigers dynasty in the UAAP from 1993 to 1996.
Another dynasty team will also see action in the tournament to be organized by Pinoyliga founder Benny Benitez is San Sebastian College-Recoletos, which won the NCAA title from1993 to 1997 behind Rommel Adducul.
The former NCAA MVP Adducul, who played 15 seasons in the pro league including 11 in the PBA, will see action for the Stags together with former teammate Banjo Calpito and ex-SSC shooter Mark Macapagal.
The initial Pinoyliga tournament will be the Inter-Alumni division divided into two groups, the 40-up Division A and the 38-up Division B
The participating teams in the 40-up Division A — with a #BalikLaro — are Letran, San Beda University, University of Santo Tomas, San Sebastian College-Recoletos and University of the East.
In the 38-up Division B, the teams are De La Salle University, Mapua, Aquinas and SBU’s 1 and 2 teams.
Aside from the Inter-Alumni Cup, Benitez said that they are also finalizing details regarding the Collegiate Cup and the Corporate Cup featuring teams from different companies.