(UPDATE) MAGNOLIA’S long-awaited reunion with Ricardo Ratliffe is finally a done deal as the Hotshots are set to bring back the 35-year-old naturalized player from Korea in time for the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
Coach Chito Victolero said he has been in touch with the hard-banging power forward, known also for his Korean name Ra Gun-ah since becoming a naturalized player for South Korea in January 2018.
“I’ve been talking with Ricardo regularly, and every year, we talk as I ask him if he’s available [to play for Magnolia],” Victolero told The Manila Times in Filipino. “He is arriving on October 26.”
Victolero said it was an easy choice to call back Ratliffe, known for his strong inside presence since he first played for the franchise when it was still carrying the Star Hotshots brand after replacing Denzel Bowles in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup.
“We know that on both ends of the floor, he can contribute, plus his experience and leadership,” explained the 2018 PBA Coach of the Year.
The following season, Ratliffe returned to reinforce the Purefoods franchise, leading the team to the semifinals where the Hotshots eventually lost to the San Miguel Beermen, 3-1.
“We know he’s improved a lot since he last played for us. And he’s very familiar with the Filipino players since he also played for Korea in the FIBA [tournaments],” he added. “What we liked about Ricardo is his versatility on the floor.”
Ratliffe has been a household name in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), having won four KBL titles with the Mobis Phoebus, along with earning three KBL All-Star stints, three KBL Player of the Year awards, an Import of the Year plum in 2017 and a KBL Defensive Player of the Year in 2015.
As South Korea’s naturalized player, the former College of Central Florida and Missouri standout went on to average a tournament-best 23 points, along with 12.8 rebounds in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
The stocky, 6-foot-8 Ratliffe will be tasked to lead a Hotshots side that just recently bombed out of the Governors’ Cup playoffs after bowing to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 3-2, in the quarterfinal series.
Magnolia last won a PBA championship in the 2018 Governors’ Cup behind import Romeo Travis.
