At A Glance
- The Gilas Women program eyes a new reinforcement through a freshly discovered naturalized player, with University of the Philippines' Favour Onoh as its top prospect ahead of the its busy 2024 campaign.
The Gilas Women program eyes a new reinforcement through a freshly discovered naturalized player, with University of the Philippines’ Favour Onoh as its top prospect ahead of its busy 2024 campaign.
National team head coach and program director Pat Aquino has already been deep in discussion with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) about his plans for the women’s squad.
One deserving name that came up in the important discussion happened to be the Fighting Maroons’ import Onoh, who steered the State U to the UAAP Final Four after a 15-year wait in Season 86.
With Gilas Pilipinas gearing up for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, the women’s squad is also eyeing a top finish in the pre-qualifying tournaments and book its place to the quadrennial showpiece.
“He [Aquino] did discuss this with me. We still have to decide on who we want to naturalize for the women’s team but it’s definitely in the plans. And Favour’s name did come up,” SBP Executive Director Erika Dy.
“With the likes of Vanessa [De Jesus] and actually even Trina [Guytingco] is considered a naturalized player now because unfortunately she got her passport after the age of 16. But we are working closely with FIBA to recognize them as locals because of their heritage,” she added.
De Jesus, who was called up to become the squad’s naturalized player in June last year, unfortunately suffered a knee injury two months later which caused her to miss her debut at the Asian Games and the Jones Cup.
With the potential addition of Onoh in the rotation, the Gilas belles could be building on the Nigerian center’s fine defensive form as she holds the current record for most rebounds of 30 in the UAAP, beating the previous tally of her counterparts in the men’s division.
The women’s national team, meanwhile, is seeing action in the 2024 Manila Hustle 3x3 to defend its title, with Guytingco bannering the squad along with her Gilas teammates Hazel Lim, Jhaz Joson and Kaye Pingol.