San Miguel has hired the services of Lithuanian forward Tauras Jogela for the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, sources told Tiebreaker Times.
The 31-year-old is armed with experience from playing professionally in Europe for over a decade now, mostly in his home country’s Lietuvos krepÅ¡inio lyga (LKL).
He most recently played for BC Jonava in the LKL, although he’s also had stints in Romania, Latvia, Poland, Hungary, and Austria in the past.
Jogela has been exposed to FIBA competitions as well. He helped Lithuania cop silver in the 2009 FIBA U16 European Championship, and won MVP honors.
As a pro, the Taurage-born player has seen action in the FIBA Europe Cup twice, first with GGMT Vienna in 2022 and then in 2024 with Jonava.
Now, he’s bound for Asia for the first time in his career, set to bolster a San Miguel team keen on ending a nine-year Governors’ Cup title drought.
The Beermen are drawn in Group B of the upcoming conference with Barangay Ginebra, Rain or Shine, NLEX, Phoenix, and Blackwater.