As Justin Brownlee’s naturalization process gains steam in the Congress, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is not stopping filling in the slots for its planned pool for naturalized players for Gilas Pilipinas.
The name of the high scoring Converge import Quincy Miller has now been thrown into the mix along with TNT import Cam Oliver as possible reinforcements to join Brownlee and Ateneo big man Ange Kouame as part of the naturalized player pools.
“I was asking that to the coaching staff and they did mention our import in TNT, Cameron Oliver and I think they were also looking at potentially, the import of Converge,” said SBP President Al Panlilio during an interview with SEAG Network on Monday, Nov. 14.
Oliver has been long considered by Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes for naturalization, even mentioning his name along with Brownlee as one of the possible candidates during a Senate Committee hearing last September.
Miller, on the other hand, was the latest to be mentioned in the talks regarding the naturalization, weeks after he also expressed his intention of playing for the national team via an Instagram story.
He later on revealed that he’s willing to do anything to don the PH colors after getting inspired by the passion of the Filipinos to the national team especially during the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers where NBA star Jordan Clarkson played in.
The 6-foot-10 forward has been one of the focal points of FiberXers offense so far in the conference, averaging 30.7 points, 16.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.0 blocks per game to lead his team to an 8-2 record in the standings.
Panlilio, however, clarified that SBP hasn’t started the process as it will be up to the Gilas coaches to identify who could be added to the naturalized player’s pool for the long haul and not just for the upcoming FIBA windows and World Cup.
“I think we have not started because I told them we have to make a final decision on who because we want to make sure the player that we want. But again it's not up to me, it's really up to the coaches to identify who the other person will be,” said Panlilio.
“With a view that it doesn't end in the World Cup eh, because this will continue, we would want to have a pool of naturalized players as we move forward.”