Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards
| Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards | |
|---|---|
| 2025 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards season | |
| League | MPBL (2019–present) FilBasket (2022) PSL (2023–2024) |
| Founded | 2019 |
| History | Nueva Ecija MiGuard 2019 Nueva Ecija ForestLake 2019 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards 2019–present (MPBL) Nueva Ecija Capitals 2022 (FilBasket) 2023–present (PSL) |
| Arena | Nueva Ecija Coliseum |
| Location | Nueva Ecija |
| Team colors | |
| Main sponsor | Palayan City Township Puregold |
| Head coach | Don Dulay |
| Championships | MPBL: 1 (2022) FilBasket: 1 (Summer 2022) |
| Conference titles | MPBL: 1 (2022) |
The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards (shortened as NERV) are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Palayan, Nueva Ecija. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. The team plays its home games at Nueva Ecija Coliseum.
The team began play as an expansion team for the 2019–20 MPBL season, though they would only begin using the Rice Vanguards moniker later on. The team also plays in the Pilipinas Super League under the name Nueva Ecija Capitals. The team also competed in FilBasket as well as in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3.
The Nueva Ecija franchise is the holder of the only regular season sweep in the MPBL, recording 21 wins with no losses during the 2022 MPBL season, where they would go on to win their first MPBL championship. The Rice Vanguards are one of four teams based in Central Luzon.