Marcio Lassiter


Marcio Tsongo Sandio Echavarre Lassiter is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association. He had a stint with the Philippine national basketball team, the Smart Gilas. Considered the best all-around sharpshooter in the PBA when Smart Gilas played as a guest team in the league, Lassiter plays the swingman position. He graduated and played college basketball for Cal State Fullerton.

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 to continue his basketball career at the community college level.

College career

College recruitment

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 Big West Conference title and was on their way to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship 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. 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 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. Because of the fall through of the PBL, Marcio was then picked up by Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Team.
In the 2011 Commissioner's Cup, and due to the leave of absence by Barako Bull Energy Boosters in Philippine Basketball Association, Smart Gilas 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, 13.5 points per game, 36.9% from the 3-point line, #10 in the league for most points over all with a game high of 22, 3.08 assists per game, 1.15 steals per game 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. Smart Gilas teammate JVee Casio was also chosen by the Tigers as the first overall pick.

Powerade Tigers

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 averaging almost 30 points per game during the playoffs, they had managed to beat the B-Meg Llamados, the first-seeded team in two games. The combination of Casio, Lassiter and David also beat the Yeng Guiao-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-mentored Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. 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 and Chris Lutz alongside B-Meg point guard Josh Urbiztondo for the 2012 All-Star Game.

Petron / San Miguel

On April 20, 2012, the Philippine Basketball Association approved the trade in which Powerade sent Marcio Lassiter and Celino Cruz to the Petron Blaze Boosters for Rey Guevarra, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, and Lordy Tugade. However, an injury prevented him to play for the entire duration of the 2012 PBA Governors Cup. 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 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 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.

PBA career statistics

As of the end of the 2018-19 PBA season

Season-by-season averages

International career

With Lassiter playing for Smart Gilas, he was a member of the Philippines men's national basketball team that was bannered by collegiate and amateur standouts whose ultimate goal was to reach the 2012 London Olympics. He participated in the FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010, 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.
during the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend
In a rare event due to the NBA lockout, the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend took place at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Marcio scored 9 points in their game against the Smart All-Stars.

Statistics

Team achievements

Marcio was born on May 16, 1987, in San Francisco. His mother is Alexandria Eshabarr, whose father is from Ilocos Sur. He has an older brother named Jolinko who is the Boys' Varsity Head Basketball Coach at George Washington High School in San Francisco. He currently lives in Manila with his US-born Filipina wife, Jerlyn Lassiter 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.