Dondon Hontiveros in a Gilas Pilipinas jersey. FIBA FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Cebuano basketball legend Dondon Hontiveros was named as the league ambassador of the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, which is set to begin on April 9.
Hontiveros was a collegiate standout for University of Cebu Webmasters then transitioned his talents for the Cebu Gems in the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association.
He then exploded into the public’s consciousness when he entered the PBA in 2000 where he went on to win three titles and named a 13-time All-Star.
Hontiveros was also a national team player many times over during his illustrious career.
“We will bring back the days where basketball in the southern side (VisMin) of the country was awesome,” said Hontiveros, who’s now serving as a councilor for Cebu City’s 2nd district. “When people came in droves to watch the games and homegrown players were given a fair opportunity to play for their cities and provinces.”
League secretary-general Chelito “Marvin” Caro said the teams that will take part in the competition are Cebu City, Mandaue City (KCS), Talisay (MJAS) and Lapu-Lapu City in the Visayas side and teams from Zamboanga City, Pagadian City (Explorers), Sindangan, and Roxas-Zamboanga del Norte (Vanguards) in the Mindanao side.
“Many teams already sent a letter of intent but we will just limit (participants) in the first conference,” said COO Rocky Chan. “We want to provide a venue for our future stars in Visayas and Mindanao and promote sports tourism in the regions.”
Cebu City will host the Visayas leg of the competitions while Zamboanga will do the same for Mindanao.
League organizers decided that to limit the teams’ expenses, the elimination round games would be held to their respective regions.
There’s also the mandate that each team should have at least six homegrown players so as to promote grassroots development in each city.