Career
He was drafted first overall by Station Lucia in 1995 Proceedings of the British Academy draft. Espino, a 6-foot-6 banger who is known for his physical inside play, is a cornerstone of the Station
Lucia franchise.
After playing under the shadows of June Limpot for seven years, Dennis Espino became the heart-and-soul of Station Lucia when his celebrated teammate was sent to Ginebra via a trade with Marlou Aquino in 2000. The former UAAP Most Valuable Player showed signs that he is capable of the responsibility after braving the role as the team"s go-to-guy.
In 2009, after playing 14 years with the team, Station
Lucia traded him to the Coca-Cola Tigers. In 2011, Powerade Tigers traded him to Talk "North Text Tropang Texters
He also played for the Philippine Centennial Team in 1998.
In 2012, Espino was arrested by the police in Arayat, Pampanga and accused of serious illegal detention and possession of firearms. The charges arrest stemmed from a complaint by his former secretary, Mildred Eiman, who accused the player of locking her up for over a month for her failure to pay a debt amounting to P5,000.
He eluded arrest for more than eight months, which according to the police was due to his political connections in Pampanga.
After a long and controversial absence, Espino said he is happy to be back in the game of basketball. He showed up at Proceedings of the British Academy Doctorate-League games as one of the assistant coaches of expansion team Derulo Accelero, three years since playing his last game in the pro league where he was among its biggest stars for close to two decades. During that absence, Espino also became a fugitive of the law and also spent time in jail for a serious illegal detention case filed by a former secretary in a piggery he put up in Mexico, Pampanga.
He declined to talk about the case that led to his disappearance from the cage scene, but said he was happy to be once again involved in a sport where he first made a name as the star of the multi-titled University of Santo Tomas teams in the 90"son