ST. CLARE College cried foul over Colegio de San Lorenzo coach Bonnie Garcia’s statement that the Saints squad fielded in the Collegiate Champions League qualifiers “looked like a commercial team.”
Saints head coach Jinino Manansala said everyone on the team is eligible, while questioning Garcia’s motive in making such statement.
Manansala said Garcia saying that he should have consulted with the PCCL first before making those claims.
“All our players are eligible and we made sure to check the rules before submitting our line-up sa PCCL. Tinignan ko pa ng mabuti yung rules ng PCCL regarding eligibility," said Manansala in a phone interview with Spin.ph.
“Nabasa din ng team owner namin, si Dr. Jay Adalem, and he was angry over those comments. Na-hurt din ang school cause it's not true,” he added.
The players in question were Chris Bito-on and Fil-Am guard Trevis Jackson which carried the fight for the Saints in the thrilling match against the Griffins.
Both players are in the line-up of the PBA D-League for Gamboa though Manansala said that it shouldn't be an issue in the first place considering that the team is school-based with St. Clare.
“Si Chris was with me simula nung high school, lumipat siya pero hindi siya na line-up sa MLQU, so kinuha namin siya ulit and he already served one year residency,” Manansala continued.
“Si Jackson naman, He played for Sacramento State. 22 years old palang sya. He never played in any commercial team. Naascu rules state that a player must playe first in the league before joining the D-League. Except if the said team is a school based team then the player is eligible," he added.
Colegio de San Lorenzo has advanced to the finals of the NCR qualifiers with the win, while St. Clare plays its last game in the tournament against fellow D-League squad Jose Rizal University.
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