The JRU Heavy Bombers basketball program represents

José Rizal University José Rizal University (formerly ''José Rizal College'' or ''JRC''), also referred to by its acronym JRU is a private non-sectarian, non-stock coeducational basic and higher education institution located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Phili ...

(JRU) in men's basketball as a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Pronounced "N-C-A-A". is an athletics association of ten private colleges and universities in Metro Manila, Philippines. Established in 1924, it is the oldest collegiate athletic association ...

(NCAA). The

JRU Heavy Bombers The JRU Heavy Bombers (also as José Rizal University Heavy Bombers) are the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball team of the Jose Rizal University. The other senior varsity teams may also be referred to as the Heavy Bombers. Th ...

are the varsity teams with the longest continuous membership in the NCAA, having been a member since 1927 without interruption, and have the longest championship drought.

History

Prior to the Commission on Higher Education granting it university status in 2000, the school was known as José Rizal College (JRC). JRC won the 1963 and 1964 NCAA titles via the exploits of Rene Canent and Egay Gomez; the former would later be the first president of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

Players Association. The Bombers had another back-to-back title romp in 1967 and 1968 led by 1967 Most Valuable Player Rhoel Deles, Carlos Villamayor and Sixto Agbay. Their last title was in 1972, when they were led by

Philip Cezar Philip Dudley Cezar (born December 1, 1952) is a Filipino former basketball coach, player and politician. Known by the monikers "Mr. Stretch", "''Tapal'' King" and "The Scholar", he was part of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers ballclub of the Phil ...

, his brother David, and

Jimmy Santos Jimmy Santos may refer to: * Jimmy Santos (singer), Afro-Uruguayan vocalist * Jimmy Santos (actor) Jaime Santos (born October 8, 1951), professionally known as Jimmy Santos, is a Filipino actor, comedian, TV host, and former professional basketb ...

. Its entire starting line-up was later drafted in the

. Francisco Calilan coached the Bombers in these five championships, and for 31 seasons from 1958 to 1989. Starting in 1987,

Vergel Meneses Vergel Corpuz Meneses (born January 14, 1969) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player and a politician, serving as mayor of the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan. He previously played in the Philippine Basketball Association and ser ...

led the Heavy Bombers, but would not able to lead them to the championship. In 1999, JRC was defeated by the

Letran Knights The Letran Knights are the collegiate varsity teams representing Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The collegiate women's varsity teams are called the ''Lady Knights'', while the high school varsity t ...

in a violence-marred title series. Two years later, now known as JRU, the Bombers lost to the

San Sebastian Stags The San Sebastian Golden Stags (also known as SSC-R Stags) are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) basketball team of the San Sebastian College – Recoletos. Their 5 consecutive NCAA seniors basketball championships was th ...

in the Finals. They would next make it to the Finals in 2008 led by John Wilson, but were defeated by the

San Beda Red Lions The San Beda Red Lions is the collegiate varsity basketball team of the San Beda University that plays in the NCAA. The juniors basketball team is called the Red Cubs of San Beda University–Rizal, while the women's varsity basketball team is c ...

. Coached by

Ariel Vanguardia Ariel Vanguardia (born September 29, 1972) is a Filipino professional basketball coach. He is the interim head coach for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Coaching career Vanguardia previously coached the We ...

at this time, he coached JRU to three consecutive playoff appearances from 2007 to 2009, after which he resigned. Meneses would then coach the team from 2009 to 2018. In Meneses' first season, they lost to the San Sebastian Stags in the semifinals, but had Wilson named as the MVP. Meneses further led the Bombers to semifinals finishes in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. After finishing last place in 2018, and in order to run as mayor of him hometown in

Bulakan, Bulacan Bulakan, officially the Municipality of Bulakan ( tgl, Bayan ng Bulakan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 81,232 people. It is north of Manila. Bula ...

, Meneses was replaced by former De La Salle coach Louie Gonzalez. JRU missed the playoffs in 2019. Under the bubble set-up, the Heavy Bombers won just once in the condensed 2021 season. JRU missed the playoffs again in 2022, but defeated Final Four qualifier Letran in their final game. The 2022 season was marked with John Amores going on a punching spree against Benilde Blazers players. Amores was then suspended for the rest of the season by the NCAA, and was removed from the team by JRU.

Current roster

NCAA Season 98

Head coaches

* c. 1948: Mateo Adao * 1958–1989: Francisco Calilan * 1989–1996: Egay Gomez * 1996–2003: Boy de Vera * 2004–2005: Cris Calilan * 2006–2009:

* 2010–2018:

* 2019–present: Louie Gonzalez

Season-by-season records

References

{{NCAA-PH men's basketball National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) basketball teams