Cebu Greats
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The Cebu Greats 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. Midway through the season, the team was renamed as the Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol, named after Casino Ethyl Alcohol from owners International Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.
The team then went on hiatus for five years before making a return for the 2025 MPBL season as the Cebu Classic, before an ownership change in the middle of that season saw the franchise rebrand as the Cebu Greats. The Cebu franchise is one of four teams based in Visayas, the teams are Bacolod Masskara, Negros Hacienderos and Iloilo United Royals 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, 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. 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. Greg Slaughter was also set to join, but eventually turned away from the team.
Team roster
Current roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F — Kint Devone Ariar(HG) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Letran G/F 2 Isaiah Blanco-Hontiveros(HG) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) De La Salle G 3 Jun Manzo 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 1997–02–14 Philippines G 5 Brylle Meca(HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 1993–05–21 Arellano G — Brian Heruela(HG) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1989–04–13 Cebu G — Emman Calo(HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 1989–12–27 Visayas F — Gab Dagangon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1992–09–07 UPHSD F/C 15 Alvin Baetiong 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 242 lb (110 kg) 1996–01–26 Lyceum F — Wowie Escosio 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 1991–10–16 Visayas G — Jonathan Ralf Gesalem(HG) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) UST F — Simon Camacho 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Adamson F — Dhon Reverente 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1989–04–24 PMI G — Andrey Armenion(HG) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) UE G/F — Al Francis Tamsi 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 158 lb (72 kg) 1992–03–25 Far Eastern G 18 Paul Desiderio(HG) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1997–02–02 Philippines G/F — Dondon Hontiveros(HG) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1977–06–01 Cebu F/C 37 J. R. Quiñahan(HG) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1984–05–08 Visayas F 42 Mark Meneses 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 1998–01–13 Luzon F — CJ Payawal(FF) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997–06–02 UE G — Ron Dennison(HG) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Far Eastern G — Rendell Senining(HG) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) F — Matt Flores(HG) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UP Cebu | Head coach Aldrin Morante Assistant coach(es) Willie Generalao Angelo Lance Ingco Junthy Valenzuela Ronjay Enrile Corvi Concepcion Dondon Hontiveros Team manager John Santos Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee (RS) Reserve player Injured Updated as of: June 13, 2025 | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Height | Weight | DOB | From |
| F | — | Kint Devone Ariar(HG) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | Letran | ||
| G/F | 2 | Isaiah Blanco-Hontiveros(HG) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | De La Salle | ||
| G | 3 | Jun Manzo | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 1997–02–14 | Philippines | |
| G | 5 | Brylle Meca(HG) | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 1993–05–21 | Arellano | |
| G | — | Brian Heruela(HG) | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 1989–04–13 | Cebu |
| G | — | Emman Calo(HG) | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 1989–12–27 | Visayas | |
| F | — | Gab Dagangon | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 1992–09–07 | UPHSD | |
| F/C | 15 | Alvin Baetiong | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 242 lb (110 kg) | 1996–01–26 | Lyceum |
| F | — | Wowie Escosio | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 202 lb (92 kg) | 1991–10–16 | Visayas |
| G | — | Jonathan Ralf Gesalem(HG) | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | UST | ||
| F | — | Simon Camacho | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | Adamson | ||
| F | — | Dhon Reverente | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 1989–04–24 | PMI |
| G | — | Andrey Armenion(HG) | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | UE | ||
| G/F | — | Al Francis Tamsi | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 158 lb (72 kg) | 1992–03–25 | Far Eastern |
| G | 18 | Paul Desiderio(HG) | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 168 lb (76 kg) | 1997–02–02 | Philippines |
| G/F | — | Dondon Hontiveros(HG) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 1977–06–01 | Cebu |
| F/C | 37 | J. R. Quiñahan(HG) | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | 1984–05–08 | Visayas |
| F | 42 | Mark Meneses | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 1998–01–13 | Luzon | |
| F | — | CJ Payawal(FF) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 1997–06–02 | UE |
| G | — | Ron Dennison(HG) | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | Far Eastern | ||
| G | — | Rendell Senining(HG) | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||
| F | — | Matt Flores(HG) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | UP Cebu |
Head coaches
| Cebu Greats head coaches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Start | End | Achievements | Ref. |
| 1 | Gilbert Castillo | 2018 | 2018 | — | |
| 2 | Norberto Manalili | 2018 | 2019 | — | |
| 3 | Expedito Falcasantos | 2019 | 2020 | — | |
| 4 | Mike Reyes | 2025 | — | ||
| 5 | Junthy Valenzuela | 2025 | 2025 | — | |
| 6 | Aldrin Morante | 2026 | current | — |
Notable players
MPBL All-Star Day
- Patrick Cabahug – 2019
- Will McAloney – 2020
PBA players
- Paulo Hubalde
- Rashawn McCarthy
- Eric Rodriguez
- Mac Tallo
- Brian Heruela
- CJ Payawal
- Simon Camacho
- Paul Desiderio
- Dondon Hontiveros
- J. R. Quiñahan
Season-by-season records
Note: Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2025 MPBL season.
| League champions | |
| Division champions | |
| Qualified for playoffs | |
| Best regular season record |
| Season | League | Division | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | GB | Round | Results | |||
| Cebu City Sharks | ||||||||||
| 2018–19 | MPBL | South | 8th | 25 | 11 | 14 | .440 | 9 | Division quarterfinals | lost vs. Davao Occidental, 0–2 |
| Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol | ||||||||||
| 2019–20 | MPBL | South | 9th | 30 | 15 | 15 | .500 | 11 | Did not qualify | |
| Did not participate from 2022 to 2024 | ||||||||||
| Cebu Greats | ||||||||||
| 2025 | MPBL | South | 10th | 29 | 11 | 18 | .379 | 14 | Clinched play-in; did not qualify playoffs | |
| Regular season record | 84 | 37 | 47 | .440 | 1 playoff appearance | |||||
| Playoff record | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 finals appearances | |||||
| Cumulative record | 84 | 37 | 49 | .430 | 0 championships |