Meralco taps Prince Ibeh as EASL import

MANILA, Philippines – Former NorthPort Batang Pier import Prince Ibeh will be backing up the Meralco Bolts in their upcoming East Asia Super League (EASL) stint. 

Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo confirmed the news Thursday during a press conference for the EASL’s games in the Philippines.

Meralco, which earlier replaced the Barangay Ginebra in the EASL, will be facing former reinforcement Allen Durham, Filipino Carl Tamayo and the Ryukyu Golden Kings on November 15 at the Okinawa Arena. 

At the PBA Media Day Wednesday, Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo said the former NorthPort import reportedly showed good character in his previous stint with the PBA team. 

This then led them to consider Ibeh as the second import for the EASL, alongside Nigerian-American import Suleiman Braimoh. 

“We’ll evaluate and see how Prince is. But he came in, we’ve heard he’s got 100 games last year, so he's been moving around the world,” the head coach told reporters. 

“From NorthPort, he had good rapport with the players and he’s doing his role well,” he added. 

Also on Wednesday, Trillo said the team vowed to play their best in the EASL. 

Meralco is in Group B of the tournament along with the Seoul SK Knights, New Taipei Kings and Ryukyu. 

Fellow PBA team TNT Tropang Giga, meanwhile, will be facing Japanese team Chiba Jets at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex on November 1, the first EASL game in the Philippines this season. 

TNT and Chiba are included in Group A along with the Taipei Fubon Braves and the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters.