43 teams will be participating in the eighth season of THE preseason tournament for the basketball student-athletes, the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup.
Slated to tip off on April 23 at the San Juan Arena, the Filoil tournament will have six non-NCAA & UAAP schools participating in the 21-team seniors division, four of which are from the provinces.
Southwestern University makes their return after their debut last year, this time bringing the CESAFI champions University of the Visayas and the University of San Carlos for their first Filoil preseason foray. Joining the three Cebuano institutions are Mindanao powerhouse Holy Trinity College from General Santos City.
Completing the cast of newcomers are St. Clare College and NAASCU champions Centro Escolar University.
The addition of the provincial-based schools is, according to tournament director Joey Guillermo, a part of a plan to expand the tournament nationally. Last year, they invited the Cobras, who had been the second-ever Visayan team to crash the Final Four of the PCCL, to participate. This year, not only are they adding participants, but also they are bringing the games to the provinces.
On May 22-25, reigning Filoil champions University of the East and UAAP champions La Salle will play USC, UV and SWU in Cebu. DLSU team manager Raffy Villavicencio quipped that if the Cebuano schools are excited to play in Manila, the other way around is also true.
UV head coach and MBA legend Donbel Belano also expressed excitement in being able to participate in the tournament, acknowledging the idea of being able to gain exposure and gauge their competitiveness both as players and as a team against the other schools will help the team in the long run. He will count on CESAFI Finals MVP John Abad and 2012 CESAFI rookie MVP Wowie Escosio to carry the load for the Lancers.
Agreeing with the sentiment is Holy Trinity head coach Pol Torrijos, whose Wildcats were the PCCL Mindanao champions for the last two editions.
In addition to the 21 teams in the seniors' competition, ten women's and twelve juniors teams will participate in the Premier Cup, which is sponsored by Flying V, Filoil, Total, Hanes, San Miguel Corporation, Starmobile, Timex, Silverworks, Gatorade, LGR and in part by Meralco, BDO, Reyes Barbecue, Douwe Egberts, Gerry’s Grill, Brothers Burger, Molten, Bayo, Oxycan, BPI, PBCom, RFM, San Marino, Red Logo, and Bacchus Energy Drink.
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