PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup to return to the hardcourt after 2 years, headlined by the Letran Knights and St. Clare College
The 2022 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup will be featuring eight teams
led by the reigning NCAA champions Letran Knights and another champion team in St. Clare College for a competitive season ahead, set to tip off next week.
D-League’s line up will include seven school-based squads as the developmental league returns after two years of hiatus due to the ongoing pandemic.
The 2019 Founders Cup was the last tournament that the D-League completed in October of that year and was forced to abandon the 2020 Aspirants Cup the following March.
Joining the cast are EcoOil-De La Salle University, Builders Warehouse-University of Santo Tomas, Centro Escolar University, Marinerong Pilipino, AMA Online Education, and Apex Fuel-San Sebastian College-Recoletos.
Reigning NCAA ROY-MVP Rhenz Abando, Fran Yu and the newbie Ira Bataller will be headlining the Wangs Basketball-Letran roster, while Adalem Construction-St. Clare will bank on NAASCU MVP Johnsherick Estrada and Mythical Five member John Edcel Rojas, to be led by coach Jinino Manansala.
EcoOil-La Salle will give these champion teams a run for their money as they will be deploying Michael Phillips, Evan Nelle, and Mark Nonoy.
UST will be debuting a new head coach during the tournament while Marinerong Pilipino will be bannered by the core Mapua University.
PBA deputy commissioner Eric Castro, together with Commission on Higher Education (CHED) sports development and management unit lead Ana Dulce Yango and Dr. Jesucito M. Garcia of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) ensured that the resumption of the league will still follow the government-mandated health and safety protocols as they have players who are still students.
Games will be held every Tuesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig, and on Thursday and Saturday mornings at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tags: #PBA, #basketball, # D-league