Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso is a Filipino-American coach and retired professional basketball player. He is the former head coach of the

Converge FiberXers The Converge FiberXers are a professional basketball team owned by Converge ICT. The team competes in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The franchise began after acquiring the former Alaska Aces franchise on March 23, 2022. History ...

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 ...

(PBA). He also played for various PBA teams, mostly with Alaska, for 15 seasons. He is known as "The Jet". He is also the basketball operations director of Slam Magazine Philippines.

Playing career

Alaska

He was first drafted by the Alaska Aces (then known as the Alaska Milkmen) during the 1995 PBA draft as the sixth overall. During his rookie year, he won the Rookie of the Year Award. And in only his second year in the league, he achieved a rare

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

with the Aces where he was instrumental in that majestic championship run, scoring the winning free throws in the All-Filipino Cup final against the Purefoods Hotdogs.

Mobiline and Tanduay years

Before the start of the

1997 PBA season The 1997 PBA season was the 23rd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Board of governors Executive committee * Emilio P. Bernardino, Jr. (Commissioner) * Nazario L. Avendaño (Chairman, representing San Miguel Beermen) * Berna ...

, Cariaso was traded to the Mobiline Phone Pals (now known as the

TNT 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 ...

) where he was a primary offensive threat for the team. They won the special 1998 Centennial Cup. After his tenure with Mobiline, he was again sent to the expansion team

Tanduay Rhum Masters The Tanduay Rhum Makers (1975-1987) and Tanduay Rhum Masters (1999-2001) were two basketball franchises associated with the same liquor brand that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The original franchise, owned by Elizald ...

. He bannered the team alongside Sonny Alvarado, Eric Menk and

Rudy Hatfield Rudolph Conse "Rudy" Hatfield II (born September 13, 1977) is an American-Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Laguna Lakers in the Metropolitan Basketball Association and for Tanduay Rhum Masters, Pop Cola Panthers, Coc ...

Reunion with Johnny Abarrientos

After Tanduay folded in 2001, he was then picked by the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

where he got reunited with

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, bec ...

. They won a couple of championships which include the 2002 All-Filipino Cup against his former team Alaska and the 2003 Reinforced Conference against San Miguel. He last tasted a championship with Talk 'N Text prior to this. He also received the most number of awards in his career during his tenure with the Tigers. Also, Coca-Cola was the only team that made it to the finals of all three conferences in 2003.

Return to Alaska and twilight years

In the middle of the 2004–05 PBA season, he along with

Reynel Hugnatan Reynel Frances T. Hugnatan (born November 3, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association. He was picked 9th overall by the Coca-Cola Tigers in the 2003 PBA draft. PBA caree ...

were traded back to the Alaska Aces in exchange for all-stars

John Arigo John Hartley Ward Arigo (born December 10, 1978), in Charleston, South Carolina, is a Filipino-American retired professional basketball player having played for three teams in the Philippine Basketball Association over a nine-year career. He was ...

and

Ali Peek Albert Henry "Ali" Peek (born February 13, 1975) is a Filipino-American retired professional basketball player who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). During his playing days, he played mostly at the center position, although he ...

. Cariaso was the last active player remaining on that Alaska Grand Slam team of 1996. In the semifinals of the 2010 PBA fiesta conference, he announced his retirement after playing 15 seasons in the league. His number 22 was also retired by the Alaska Aces and the

Coaching career

Barangay Ginebra

On April 29, 2014, Cariaso was named as the new head coach of

Barangay Ginebra The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

, replacing

Ato Agustin Renato Guilas Agustin (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, politician, and current assistant coach for the San Miguel Beermen. He played college basketball for the Lyceum of the Philippines before moving on ...

. Prior to this, he has no high-level head coaching experience. In fact, he has little coaching experience apart from San Mig Coffee, joining the team in 2011, one year after retiring as a player, to assist his former coach at Alaska,

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is the most accomplished coach in PBA history with t ...

. At San Mig, he emerged as the top assistant, often taking over the reins when Cone was ejected, or when the team was getting blown out and the American coach wanted to send a message to his players. His tenure as coach of the Gin Kings did not produce much success, as the team failed to go beyond the quarterfinal rounds in the 2014 Governors' Cup and in the 2014–15 Philippine Cup. Moreover, the triangle offense system he uses did not sit well with the players. At the end of their Philippine Cup campaign, he was relieved of his coaching duties and was replaced by Ato Agustin. He still has one year and two conferences left in his contract, which was bought out, paving the way to his return to Alaska as assistant coach and camp director.

Converge FiberXers

On August 9, 2022, after just one conference, Cariaso was released from his position.

Career statistics

, - , align="left" , 1995 , align="left" ,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, 73 , , 27.6, , .484 , , .207 , , .803 , , 3.9 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , .1 , , 11.4 , - , align="left" , 1996 , align="left" , Alaska , 69 , , 29.6 , , .493 , , .125 , , .807 , , 4.3 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 11.8 , - , align="left" , 1997 , align="left" , Alaska , 39 , , 38.6 , , .425 , , .208 , , .766 , , 7.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 18.7 , - , align="left" , 1998 , align="left" , Mobiline , 23 , , 42.3 , , .449 , , .091 , , .729 , , 6.8 , , 5.1 , , .9 , , .4 , , 18.2 , - , align="left" , 1999 , align="left" , Mobiline , 35 , , 36.1 , , .398 , , .318 , , .789 , , 5.2 , , 3.8 , , .7 , , .3 , , 13.2 , - , align="left" , 2000 , align="left" ,

Tanduay Tanduay Distillers, Inc. () is a Philippine alcoholic beverage company. It is a subsidiary of LT Group, a conglomerate owned by Filipino business magnate Lucio Tan. As of 2019, it is the world's largest rum brand. History Tanduay traces its or ...

, 44 , , 37.0 , , .383 , , .222 , , .771 , , 5.2 , , 4.5 , , .7 , , .2 , , 14.6 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" , Tanduay , 35 , , 36.3 , , .427 , , .299 , , .812 , , 5.1 , , 3.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , 18.4 , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

, 12 , , 28.0 , , .422 , , .392 , , .679 , , 3.3 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 19.2 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" , Coca-Cola , 65 , , 33.0 , , .405 , , .232 , , .841 , , 4.3 , , 3.7 , , .8 , , .1 , , 15.4 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" , Coca-Cola/Alaska , 71 , , 34.0 , , .418 , , .377 , , .866 , , 4.6 , , 3.9 , , .7 , , .1 , , 15.8 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" , Alaska , 49 , , 34.7 , , .414 , , .288 , , .797 , , 4.7 , , 3.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , 12.5 , - , align="left" , 2006–07 , align="left" , Alaska , 45 , , 34.2 , , .445 , , .308 , , .866 , , 4.6 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .0 , , 13.1 , - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" , Alaska , 45 , , 29.6 , , .400 , , .349 , , .763 , , 4.3 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 10.4 , - , align="left" , 2008–09 , align="left" , Alaska , 40 , , 21.6 , , .399 , , .275 , , .774 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , , .3 , , .0 , , 7.1 , - , align="left" , 2009–10 , align="left" , Alaska , 41 , , 10.8 , , .356 , , .111 , , .696 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 686 , , 31.3 , , .426 , , .296 , , .802 , , 4.4 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 13.1

Personal life

Cariaso is engaged to sports news reporter

Erika Padilla Erika Padilla (born November 22, 1986) is a Filipino actress, TV host, model and sideline reporter. Early life Padilla's father is General Ricardo Ilagan Padilla, a former regional director of Region 4 Calabarzon and the incumbent Mayor of Bon ...

, who was two months pregnant with her first child when he proposed. He was previously married to Michelle, with whom he shares 4 children. Jeffrey is a graduate of

Mission High School Mission High School may refer to: * Mission High School (San Francisco, California), a public high school in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) San Francisco, California * Mission High School (Mission, Texas), a secondary school loc ...

in San Francisco, CA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cariaso, Jeffrey 1972 births Living people Alaska Aces (PBA) players Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games Filipino men's basketball coaches Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippine Basketball Association players with retired numbers Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Powerade Tigers players Sonoma State Seawolves men's basketball players Tanduay Rhum Masters players TNT Tropang Giga players Shooting guards American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Filipino descent Asian Games competitors for the Philippines American men's basketball coaches Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks Magnolia Hotshots coaches Alaska Aces (PBA) coaches Converge FiberXers coaches Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coaches