Cebu Classic

Not to be confused with Valenzuela Classic.

Cebu Classic
2025 Cebu Classic season
League	MPBL
Founded	2018;7 years ago (2018)
History	Cebu City Sharks 2018–2019 Cebu Sharks 2019 Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol 2019–2020 Cebu Classic 2025–present
Arena	Hoops Dome Southwestern University University of San Jose–Recoletos [1]
Location	Cebu, Philippines
Team colors
Head coach	Mike Reyes

The Cebu Classic is a Filipino professional basketball team based in the Cebu metropolitan area. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. The team has played its home games across multiple venues across Metro Cebu.

The team began play in the 2018–19 season as the Cebu City Sharks, then renamed as the Cebu Sharks the following season. ^[2] Midway through the season, the team was renamed as the Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol, named after Casino Ethyl Alcohol from owners International Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. ^[3]

The team then went on hiatus for five years before making a return for the 2025 MPBL season, under their current moniker. The Cebu franchise is one of two teams based in Visayas, the other being the Bacolod City of Smiles, and the lone team based in the Central Visayas region.

History

2018–2020: First stint

The Cebu City Sharks were one of sixteen expansion teams in the 2018–19 MPBL season, as well as the first team based in Visayas. That season saw Cebu make the playoffs despite having a losing record, they eventually lost to the Davao Occidental Tigers. In the 2019–20 season, the team finished ninth, one game behind the eighth-place team in the South Division, the Bicol Volcanoes. The Cebu franchise also had an all-star selection in each of its first two seasons: Patrick Cabahug in 2019 and Will McAloney in 2020.

2025–present: Second stint

The Cebu franchise was mentioned as among the teams that were set to return for the league's 2023 season, ^[4] however its return did not materialize for unknown reasons. Two years later in 2025, another attempt at Cebu's return to the MPBL was first reported by journalist Snow Badua, stating from his source that the franchise was bought by new management and that it is "finalizing details” for its revival. ^[5] The revival will be managed by Voltaire Ora, who was previously the team manager of the Valenzuela Classic. Among the players joining the revived team are Paulo Hubalde and Rashawn McCarthy. ^[6] Greg Slaughter was also set to join, but eventually turned away from the team.

Team Roster

Current roster

Cebu Classic roster

• v
• t
• e

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 5 Brylle Meca  (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 1993–05–21 Arellano G 6 Shaquille Imperial  (HG) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Southwestern-U F/C 9 Dolan Adlawan  (HG) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) San Carlos G/F 12 Jiesel Tarrosa 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Visayas F 13 Mark Meneses  (HG) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 1998–01–13 Luzon G 16 Darrel Manliguez 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 1995–04–03 MATS F/C 18 Mike delos Santos 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) F/C 19 Ken Holmqvist 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) San Carlos G 23 Limuel Tampus 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) F 24 Dennis Santos 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 1990–04–28 St. Clare C 27 Ladis Lepalam 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 1999–11–27 St. Benilde G 29 Gryann Mendoza 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Far Eastern F/C 42 Lean Martel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 1998–06–27 UPHSD G 52 Rashawn McCarthy  (FF) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1989–09–10 SUNY–Old Westbury G/F 55 Jan Jamon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1993–04–05 Emilio Aguinaldo G — Jeco Bancale  (HG) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Mapúa G — Paulo Hubalde 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1981–01–24 UE F — John Jabonete  (HG) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Mapúa F — John Paul Martinez 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) G — VJ Santos 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Lyceum G — Kascius Small-Martin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 1990–04–28 Brock

Head coach Mike Reyes Team manager Voltaire Ora Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee (RS) Reserve player Injured Roster – Genius Sports (MPBL) Updated as of: March 4, 2025

Head coaches

Cebu Classic head coaches
#	Name	Start	End	Achievements	Ref.
1	Gilbert Castillo	2018	2018	—	[3]
2	Norberto Manalili	2018	2019	—	[7]
3	Expedito Falcasantos	2019	2020	—	[8]
4	Mike Reyes	2025	current	—	[9]

Notable players

MPBL All-Star Day

All-Star selections

• Patrick Cabahug – 2019
• Will McAloney – 2020

PBA players

Ex-PBA players

• Paulo Hubalde
• Rashawn McCarthy

Season-by-season records

	League champions
	Division champions
	Qualified for playoffs
	Best regular season record

Season	Regular season					Playoffs
	Division	Finish	W	L	PCT	Stage	Results
Cebu City Sharks
2018–19 Datu Cup	South	8th	11	14	.440	First Round	lost vs. Davao Occidental, 0–2
Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol
2019–20 Lakan Season	South	9th	15	15	.500	Did not qualify
Did not participate from 2022 to 2024
Cebu Classic
2025	TBA	To be determined				To be determined
All-time regular season record			26	29	.473	1 playoff appearance
All-time playoff record			0	2	.000	0 finals appearances
All-time overall record			26	31	.456	0 championships

References

1. "Cebu raring to take on General Santos in MPBL home game this Saturday". Sun.Star . December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
2. Panerio, Jonas Rey N. (May 27, 2019). "Sharks not just representing Cebu City, but the entire Cebu Province now". Cebu Daily News . Retrieved June 30, 2019.
3. Panerio, Jonas (May 22, 2018). "Cebu City Sharks excited over chance to play more home games in MPBL debut". Spin.ph. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
4. "MPBL welcomes Quezon Province, Negros Muscovados". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
5. Badua, Snow (February 12, 2025). "Greg Slaughter eyed as cornerstone of new Cebu team in MPBL". Spin.ph. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
6. Villaruel, Emmanuel B. (February 17, 2025). "Cebu mobalik sa MPBL, Slaughter maoy mangu" [Cebu returns to MPBL, Slaughter to lead]. Philstar.com (in Cebuano). Retrieved February 19, 2025.
7. Panerio, Jonas Rey N. (May 27, 2019). "Cebu Sharks still 6 out of 10, says coach". Cebu Daily News. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
8. "New coach for Cebu". Sun.Star. September 10, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
9. "Bracing for MPBL return: Cebu taps Mike Reyes as part of coaching staff". www.philstar.com. March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 4, 2025.