Eliud Poligrates is a Filipino professional basketball player. He was drafted 27th overall in the

2013 PBA draft The 2013 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft was an event, which allows teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. The event was held at Midtown Atrium, Robinson Place Manila on November 3, 2013. Draft lottery The lottery de ...

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...

Amateur career

Eliud was brought in by

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern o ...

scouts after he was discovered playing in small leagues in his hometown of

Camotes Island Camotes Islands is a group of islands in the Camotes Sea, Philippines. Combined area is . The island group is located east of Cebu Island, southwest of Leyte Island, and north of Bohol Island. It is from Cebu City and is part of Cebu. According ...

– a group of islands that form part of the province of

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

. But his flourishing three-year career at Southwestern came to an abrupt end in 2009 when he was caught – ironically –

moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

in a small league in the province or ''larong labas''. The offense led to a lifetime ban from the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI). The CESAFI ban led Poligrates to bounce from one Cebu commercial team to another, suiting up for M. Lhuillier, Mandaue Landmasters, and MisOr Meteors in

Liga Pilipinas Liga Pilipinas was a regional basketball league in the Philippines. It was sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the country's national basketball federation, and owned by Pinoy Basketbol, Inc. History The National Basketball Con ...

. Then came the chance to play in Manila and join

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley ( ilo, Tanap ti Cagayan; fil, Lambak ng Cagayan), is an administrative region in the Philippines, located in the northeastern section of Luzon Island. It is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nue ...

in the

PBA D-League The PBA Developmental League, or PBA D-League, is the Philippine Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Philip ...

after Rising Suns officials spotted him playing - to no one's surprise - in another ''larong-labas''.

Professional career

Poligrates scored 13 points in his PBA debut against the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three ...

in his home province in

. Shortly before the end of

2013–14 PBA Philippine Cup The 2013–14 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, also known as the 2013–14 PLDT Home DSL/myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first conference of the 2013–14 PBA season. The tournament started on ...

eliminations, he was traded along with Sean Anthony a 2010 first-round pick to

Air21 Express The Air21 Express were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) that debuted in the 2011–12 season. The team debuted as the Shopinas.com Clickers during the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup. In 2014, the fra ...

in exchange for

Niño Canaleta Rommel Niño T. "KG" Canaleta (born February 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball coach. He is currently the assistant coach for the Taichung Suns of the T1 League. He is also a former basketball player who played majority of his caree ...

, who went to

. On November 27, 2014, he was again traded to

Kia Sorento The Kia Sorento ( ko, 기아 쏘렌토, translit=Gia Sorento) is a mid-size crossover SUV (formerly a body-on-frame SUV until 2009) produced since 2002 by South Korean manufacturer Kia. First generation (BL; 2002) 2002–2006 Debuted in ...

in exchange for

Rudy Lingganay Rudy Briones Lingganay Jr. (born August 15, 1986 in Zamboanga City) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Batangas City Embassy Chill of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). On November 27, 2014, he was traded to th ...

. On 2015, Poligrates was signed by

Cafe France Bakers The PBA Developmental League, or PBA D-League, is the Philippine Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Phili ...

of the

PBA Developmental League The PBA Developmental League, or PBA D-League, is the Philippine Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Philip ...

(PBA D-League). In June 2015, Poligrates led the Bakers to its first PBA D-League title over favorites

Hapee Fresh Fighters The Hapee Fresh Fighters was a basketball team owned by Lamoiyan Corporation that played in the PBA Developmental League (PBA D-League). The franchise began in the Philippine Basketball League from 1994 until the league became dormant in 2010. Th ...

in the 2015 PBA D-League Foundation Cup. In April 2015, Poligrates was signed by Euro-Med of the

Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (also known as PCBL) was a commercial amateur basketball tournament based in the Philippines that catered to the development and grassroots program for future Filipino basketball players, inspired from the ...

(PCBL) after a six-month absence from commercial basketball. In his debut with the team, he scored 17 points against Foton Tornadoes.

PBA career statistics

''Correct as of October 11, 2015''

Season-by-season averages

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Talk 'N Text TNT (formerly known as Piltel, Mobiline, Phone Pal, and still unofficially known as Talk 'N Text) is a cellular service of Smart Communications in the Philippines. By April 2000, Piltel launched its GSM brand, Talk 'N Text. Piltel also reporte ...

Air21 Air21 Airlines was a short-lived United States airline based in Fresno, California, led by Mark Morro, founded by David Miller and co-founded by David J. VanderLugt. The airline operated five Fokker F28 Fellowship 64-passenger twin engine jet ...

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Kia Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

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Personal life

Poligrates lives in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

with his family, as featured in an episode of the

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

TV show

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho ''Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho'' (International title: ''One at Heart, Jessica Soho'' / ) also known as ''KMJS'', is a Philippine television news magazine show broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Jessica Soho, it premiered on November 7, 2004 on the ...

. The episode, entitled "Idol sa Hardcourt," aired on 16 March 2014.Idol sa Hardcourt
Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poligrates, Eliud 1987 births Living people Air21 Express players Basketball players from Cebu Cebuano people Filipino men's basketball players Terrafirma Dyip players Point guards TNT Tropang Giga players TNT Tropang Giga draft picks