The Cebu Classic is a Filipino professional basketball team based in the Metro Cebu area. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). 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 four teams based in Visayas and the lone team from 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 are Paulo Hubalde and Rashawn McCarthy.[6] Greg Slaughter was also set to join, but eventually turned away from the team.
Personnel
Current roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | — | |
Notable players
MPBL All-Star Day
PBA players
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
- ^ "Cebu raring to take on General Santos in MPBL home game this Saturday". Sun.Star. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "MPBL welcomes Quezon Province, Negros Muscovados". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
- ^ Badua, Snow (February 12, 2025). "Greg Slaughter eyed as cornerstone of new Cebu team in MPBL". Spin.ph. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Panerio, Jonas Rey N. (May 27, 2019). "Cebu Sharks still 6 out of 10, says coach". Cebu Daily News. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ "New coach for Cebu". Sun.Star. September 10, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
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