Alfonso Solis (born December 23, 1962), better known as Al Solis, is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the

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

Amateur career

Solis started in 1977 with the

University of the Visayas The University of the Visayas (UV) is a private institution located in Cebu City, Philippines. It is the first school in the province of Cebu to attain university status. History Vicente Gullas (1898–1970) founded the University of the Visa ...

Baby Lancers, UV's high school team. After spending three years of junior basketball, Solis was elevated to the collegiate ranks and lasted until 1984. Simultaneously with his UV stint, he played for several local commercial teams in Cebu. Al became one of the veteran players in the Philippine Amateur Basketball League as he suited up in the very first PABL tournament, playing for Fariñas Transit and then to Cine Suerte under coach Arturo Valenzona. Solis became a member of the RP Youth team that finished third in the 1984 ABC 19 and under meet in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The following year, he joined the

Northern Cement basketball team The Northern Cement basketball team (popularly known as "the NCC basketball team") refers to the team that represented the national basketball program and training pool for the Philippines men's national basketball team from 1980 to 1986. The tea ...

of coach Ron Jacobs. In 1985, Solis saw action for Lagerlite Beer and after which he went back to Cebu. In his final year in the amateurs, Solis became part of the Lhuillier Jewelers' champion team in the 1986 PABL First Conference.

Professional career

Originally drafted by Hills Bros. (formerly Alaska Milk) in the PBA, Solis was traded to Shell, along with

Rey Cuenco Reynaldo "Rey" Cuenco (March 17, 1960 – August 15, 1996) was a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. Career highlights A native of Pampanga, Rey became part of the Masagana 99 team in the PAB ...

in exchange for

Bogs Adornado William "Bogs" Adornado (born May 26, 1951) is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former player. He is one of the Philippine Basketball Association's Greatest Players and was inducted to its Hall of Fame in 2005. He was a three-time ...

. After placing second to

Allan Caidic Allan Vito Flores Caidic (born June 15, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, coach and executive who is currently serving as consultant for San Sebastian Stags. He is considered by many to be the greatest shooter the cou ...

for the rookie of the year honors in his freshman year, Solis moved to newcomer Purefoods Hotdogs at the beginning of the

1988 PBA season The 1988 PBA season was the 14th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Board of governors Executive committee * Rodrigo L. Salud (Commissioner) * Reynaldo Marquez (Chairman, representing Shell Rimula-X Diesel Oilers) * Jos ...

. Al was responsible for leading the Hotdogs to their first-ever PBA championship in 1990, he scored a clutch three-pointer with 14 seconds remaining and two seconds on their shotclock, that gave the Hotdogs a four-point cushion in the deciding Game five of the third conference finals against Alaska Milkmen. He was offered a P2.6 million contract by the RFM franchise the following season which Purefoods surprisingly didn't match. Solis went on to win four championships with the Swift/Sunkist ballclub. He moved to Pepsi/Mobiline beginning the 1996 PBA season. Al's last stop in the PBA was playing 12 games with Batang Red Bull in the 2001 All-Filipino Cup. After that, he went on to play for

Cebu Gems The Cebu Gems, also known as Cebuana Lhuillier Gems, were a professional basketball team in the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association from 1998 to 2002. The team was owned by Jean Henri Lhuillier and played its home games at the Cebu ...

in the MBA. In his 15 years in the PBA, Solis made the Mythical First team twice and was an All-Star once. He was the 26th player to reach the 5,000-point plateau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solis, Al 1962 births Living people Barako Bull Energy Boosters players Filipino men's basketball players Magnolia Hotshots players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Pop Cola Panthers players Shell Turbo Chargers players Shooting guards Basketball players from Davao City TNT Tropang 5G players UV Green Lancers basketball players Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks