Marcio Tsongo Sandio Eshabarr Lassiter (born May 16, 1987) is a Filipino-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the San Miguel Beermen 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 had a stint with the

Philippine national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

, the

Smart Gilas The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

. Considered the best all-around sharpshooter in the PBA when

played as a guest team in the league, Lassiter plays the

swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forwa ...

position. He graduated and played college basketball for

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

High school career

Multi-talented performer for the George Washington High Eagles and Coach Jeremy Lee in San Francisco. He is a four-year varsity letterman who earned All-Academic Athletic Association honors three times. He also was all-district as a senior as a power forward and center and all-city as a sophomore and junior as a shooting guard. As a senior averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds. He turned down a walk on offer to

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

to continue his basketball career at the community college level.

Recruiting

College career

City College of San Francisco

Selected Co-Most Valuable Player of the Coast to Conference North in 2006-07 for Coach Justin Labagh and the CCSF Rams, who were ranked No. 4 in the state going into the playoffs and finished 28–6. Earned second-team Northern California all-state honors. He ranked among the Top 100 JC players in California. Averaged 14 points as a sophomore. Averaged 12 points as a freshman. Marcio led team in scoring both years. But team lost in the 2007 Regional playoffs to West Hills, 80–79. Lassiter's junior college coach Justin Labagh at City College of San Francisco said, "Marcio brings consistency to the team - he is always ready to play, he has a basketball sense that realizes that shooting is just one part of the game, he is a complete player."

California State University Fullerton

Marcio provided an offensive spark off the bench as well as a strong defensive presence on the wing during the 2007–08 season, playing in 32 of the team's 33 games. Selected Most Improved Player by his teammates. Transferee from San Francisco City College averaged 3.3 points and 1.0 rebounds and showed the ability to score in bunches. He got a season-high 17 points in a season-high 25 minutes vs. UCR, making 5-of-9 shots, 3-of-6 from the arc. He did not miss a free throw all season, making 18 of 18. On the Labor Day Weekend tour to British Columbia he was the Titans' No. 2 scorer at 12.7 points per game and grabbed 4.0 rebounds to go with 1.5 assists. During his first year at CSUF, the team won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

title and was on their way to the

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

Tournament known as the "Big Dance," just the second time with the first being 30 years prior. They ended up, however losing in the first round to the much taller and bigger no. 3 seeded team of the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

. Marcio's second and last year at Cal State Fullerton was also a great one. He was just 1 of 2 returning seniors. Lassiter received the Lyle Parks, Jr., Hustle Award from the Titan Athletics Club and his teammates voted him the Andrew Awad Toughness Award for inspiration, named in honor of the late former Titan player. He was described by Titans coach Bob Burton as "a tremendous defender (and) a really outstanding shooter."

Professional career

He moved to the Philippines in October 2009 and was the overall #1 pick of the PBL drafted by

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

. Because of the fall through of the PBL, Marcio was then picked up by

Pilipinas National Team. In the 2011 Commissioner's Cup, and due to the leave of absence by Barako Bull Energy Boosters in

the team with whom he has been playing for, was the replacement of the Barako Bull team. Playing in 13 games, Lassiter averaged 38 minutes per game (#1 in the league), 13.5 points per game (#14 in the league), 36.9% (24/65) from the 3-point line (#17 in the league), #10 in the league for most points over all (176 total) with a game high of 22, 3.08 assists per game (#16 in the league), 1.15 steals per game (#9 in the league) and 5.31 rebounds per game. He was ranked #16 overall in efficiency at 30.79%

Entering the PBA draft

On July 28, 2011, Marcio Lassiter was one of the first 10 applicants for the 2011 PBA draft. At that time, there had been no announcements regarding an extension of the Smart Gilas Pilipinas National program. It was not until August 16, 2011, that an extension of the program was revealed. Gilas management revealed the names of those targeted to be retained, which included Lassiter. Despite word that offers were set to take place that next day, nothing was done to retain any of the players initially mentioned, and they were even given the "OK" to continue with the draft. This was quite unfortunate for the Smart Gilas program, as many of the players were waiting for an offer and still undecided with a chance to pull out of the draft. On August 28, 2011, Lassiter was selected 4th overall in the draft by

Powerade Tigers The Powerade Tigers were a professional basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association from 2002 to 2012. The franchise was owned by Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI) when the company acquired Cosmos Bottling Co ...

. Smart Gilas teammate

JVee Casio Joseph Evans "JVee" D. Casio (born September 1, 1986) is a Filipino basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted first overall by the Powerade Tigers in 2011 PBA draft. Early life a ...

was also chosen by the Tigers as the first overall pick.

Powerade Tigers (2011–2012)

The team finished with 6 wins and 8 losses and ranked 8th after the elimination in the 2011–12 Philippine Cup. With teammate

Gary David Gary Ocampo David (born July 13, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pampanga Giant Lanterns of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is a five-time All-Star and co-holds the longest streak for consecutiv ...

averaging almost 30 points per game during the playoffs, they had managed to beat the

B-Meg Llamados The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migue ...

, the first-seeded team in two games. The combination of Casio, Lassiter and David also beat the

Yeng Guiao Joseller "Yeng" Medina Guiao (born March 19, 1959) is a Filipino professional basketball head coach, politician, commentator and sports commissioner. He is currently the head coach of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketba ...

-led Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the semifinals in seven games. They entered the finals with a heavy underdog tag against the

Chot Reyes Vincent "Chot" P. Reyes (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino basketball head coach for the TNT Tropang Giga for the Philippine Basketball Association. He is also the head coach of the Philippine national basketball team, where he led the team to a ...

-mentored

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 ...

. They lost the Finals to Talk 'N Text, 4–1. He was one of the starters for the RSJ team alongside Smart Gilas teammates JV Casio,

Dylan Ababou Dylan Simon Rosales Ababou (born December 7, 1986) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He played for seven teams during his career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 10th overall in 2011 by the Barako ...

and

Chris Lutz Christopher Ryan Lutz (born February 11, 1985) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He last played for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Lutz grew up in Bedford, New Hampshire. As a ...

alongside B-Meg point guard

Josh Urbiztondo Joshua Emile Doherty Urbiztondo (born February 27, 1983) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He last played for the San Miguel Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). Amateur career Urbiztondo played for ...

for the 2012 All-Star Game.

Petron Blaze Boosters / San Miguel Beermen (2012–present)

On April 20, 2012, the

approved the trade in which Powerade sent Marcio Lassiter and

Celino Cruz Celino Salazar Cruz (born July 22, 1977) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. A deadly left-handed shooter, he is best known for his clutch plays. Cruz played eight seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). After pl ...

to the

Petron Blaze Boosters The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

for

Rey Guevarra Rey Francis J. Guevarra (born November 24, 1986) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Guevarra was selected by the Air21 Express third ov ...

Rabeh Al-Hussaini Rabeh Ahmed T. Al-Hussaini (born August 11, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Blackwater Elite of the PBA. A power forward/center, he played five seasons for the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in the Univer ...

, and

Lordy Tugade Lordy Tugade (born December 30, 1977 in Alaminos, Pangasinan) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player. He last played for the Powerade Tigers in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/specia ...

. However, an injury prevented him to play for the entire duration of the

2012 PBA Governors Cup The 2012 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors' Cup, was the third and last conference of the 2011–12 PBA season. The tournament started on May 20 and culminated on August 5 with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters team defeating the ...

. He played his first game as a Booster, on October 26, 2012, at the final minute of their contest against GlobalPort through a 3-pointer. The next game, Lassiter only scored 5 points on 2-for-7 from the field. He misses his five 3-point attempts in that game in a loss to the Air21 Express. On November 14, Lassiter recorded his first double-figure scoring output with 12 points to go along with 2 rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time on a 96–86 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. In the 2014–15 Philippine Cup, Lassiter helped San Miguel win its twentieth franchise title after defeating

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., ...

in a hard-fought seven-game series. The title was also Lassiter's first championship in the PBA. Lassiter had previously been in the PBA Finals twice with Powerade in the 2011–12 Philippine Cup and with San Miguel, his current team in the 2013 Governors' Cup. On May 17, 2015, Lassiter recorded 24 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 3-pointers in a 102–124 win over the NorthPort Batang Pier. The following game, Lassiter has a woeful shooting night, only scoring 6 points on 2-for-10 (.200) from the field but the Beermen manages to win over the Purefood Star Hotshots, 100–89. On July 2, 2015, Lassiter scored 22 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and made 4 3-pointers as the Beermen got Game 1 of the 2015 PBA Governors' Cup Semifinals against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. On July 4, Lassiter got his career high of 10/13 3-point shooting for 31 points in a losing effort against Rain or Shine in game 2 of the semifinals.

Career statistics

PBA

''As of the end of 2021 season''
Real GM

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , 2011–12 Powerade Tigers season, Powerade , rowspan=2, 38 , , rowspan=2, 37.2 , , rowspan=2, .412 , , rowspan=2, .367 , , rowspan=2, .776 , , rowspan=2, 6.0 , , rowspan=2, 3.8 , , rowspan=2, 1.4 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, 17.1 , - , align=left ,

Petron Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan with a rated capacity of . From the refinery, Petro ...

, - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 45 , , 29.2 , , .427 , , .453 , , .733 , , 3.5 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .1 , , 12.1 , - , align=left , , align=left , Petron / San Miguel , 37 , , 30.9 , , .383 , , .356 , , .671 , , 3.5 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .1 , , 12.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 51 , , 31.1 , , .390 , , .398 , , .772 , , 3.8 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , 11.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 56 , , 33.5 , , .414 , , .411 , , .794 , , 4.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 13.0 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 58 , , 36.7 , , .393 , , .351 , , .752 , , 4.8 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 14.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 56 , , 36.9 , , .400 , , .355 , , .831 , , 4.1 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , 15.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 47 , , 31.0 , , .386 , , .347 , , .813 , , 3.6 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 11.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 12 , , 36.6 , , .387 , , .381 , , .926 , , 2.9 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 15.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 32 , , 31.2 , , .422 , , .425 , , .842 , , 3.2 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.3 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2, Career , 432 , , 33.4 , , .401 , , .379 , , .778 , , 4.1 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 13.3

National team

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2011 FIBA Asia Championship , style="text-align:left;", , 6 , , 32.0 , , .323 , , .217 , , .500 , , 4.83 , , 1.33 , , 1.17 , , 0.17 , , 8.33

International career

With Lassiter playing for

, he was a member of the

Philippines men's national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

that was bannered by collegiate and amateur standouts whose ultimate goal was to reach the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He participated in the

FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010 The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

, represented the team in the 2010 Asian Games Basketball Tournament and also made a huge impact in the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup that took place in Manila. In a rare event due to the NBA lockout, the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend took place at the

Smart Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the ...

. Marcio scored 9 points in their game against the Smart All-Stars (

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

, JaVale McGee,

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

Tyreke Evans Tyreke Jamir Evans (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Indios de Mayagüez of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). After playing college basketball for the Memphis Tigers, he was selected with the f ...

, Derrick Williams, Derrick Rose,

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

, and

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los ...

Team achievements

* 2011 William Jones Cup participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2011 William Jones Cup 3rd-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2011 Southeast Asian Basketball Championships participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2011 Southeast Asian Basketball Championships 1st-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup 4th-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) *

2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2011 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup was the second conference of the 2010–11 PBA season. The tournament began on February 18 and ended on May 8, 2011. The tournament was an import-laden format, which requires an ...

participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) *

3rd-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) *2010 Asian games participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) *2010 Asian games 6th-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) *2010 MVP Champions Cup participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) *2010 MVP Champions Cup 1st-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup participant (Smart Gilas Pilipinas) * 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 4th-place finish (Smart Gilas Pilipinas)

Personal life

Marcio was born on May 16, 1987, in San Francisco. His mother is Alexandria Eshabarr, whose father is from

Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...

. He has an older brother named Jolinko who is the Boys' Varsity Head Basketball Coach at George Washington High School in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He currently lives in Manila with his US-born Filipina wife, Jerlyn Lassiter (née Pangilinan) and their four young sons, Montaé Izaiyah, Myles Elaijah, Marcel Josaiah and Melo Zekaiah. Lassiter graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology. His family is also related to the Filipino comedian Joey Guila.

References

External links

Cal State Fullerton bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lassiter, Marcio 1987 births Living people American emigrants to the Philippines American sportspeople of Filipino descent Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games Basketball players from San Francisco Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball players City College of San Francisco Rams men's basketball players Citizens of the Philippines through descent Filipino people of American descent Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Powerade Tigers players San Miguel Beermen players Shooting guards Small forwards American men's basketball players Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Powerade Tigers draft picks