Hapee Fresh Fighters celebrate D-League championship. INQUIRER
Are Hapee days in the PBA Developmental League over?
The answer, apparently, is a yes.
Fresh Fighters team manager Bernard Yang told INQUIRER.net on Friday that the Dr. Cecilio Pedro-owned squad would not be returning to the PBA D-League for its 2016 season.
“Hapee will not join (this upcoming D-League season),” he said.
Yang did not explain the specifics of Hapee’s decision to take a breather from the D-League, but teams can join and pull out of the D-League whenever they please.
Hapee, which is also one of the rumored teams who are eyeing a jump to the PBA, made its triumphant return last year after a four year hiatus from commercial basketball.
Behind D-League MVPs Bobby Ray Parks and Garvo Lanete, Gilas cadets Earl Scottie Thompson and Troy Rosario, and San Beda studs Baser Amer and Art dela Cruz, the Ronnie Magsanoc-coached squad snared the 2015 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup title.
However, injuries and national team obligations for a number of players cut short the team’s run at the top, falling to CafeFrance in the 2015 PBA D-League Foundation Cup Finals.