THE Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) has ruled to disqualify University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars’ player Evan Jose “EJ” Agbong for failing to meet the league’s eligibility requirements.
The office of the league’s commissioner, Felix “Boy” Tiukinhoy, made the decision known through a memorandum that was shared to the media on Friday afternoon, Dec. 1, 2023. This came after Cesafi received his official Transcript of Record from the previous school he attended in Mindanao.
Cesafi’s decision is a crucial one as it stripped the Jaguars of any victories they had with Agbong in the lineup. USJ-R thus finished the 10-game elimination round with a 4-6 win-loss record, dropping them to sixth place.
This development also elevated the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors to the fourth spot as they now tote a 6-4 card. Instead of USJ-R, USC will now play in the semifinals opposite the reigning champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers.
UV only needs to win once to return to the best-of-three championship round.
The other semifinals pairing remains as is with the second-seeded University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters set to take on the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers. UC holds a twice-to-beat advantage in this showdown.