Clarkson shortlisted for Gilas Pilipinas

By Adrian Stewart Co

The Philippine men’s national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, recently revealed Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson was named to their training pool ahead of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 15 in China.
“We’re still not giving up on the effort to play him as a local,” said Gilas head coach Joseller ‘Yeng’ Guiao. “Kung hindi naman, back-up siya ni Andray as naturalized (If we are unable to play Clarkson, Andray Blatche is the backup as he is naturalized).”
“Baka may milagro (Maybe there will be a miracle),” he added.
According to FIBA’s rules of eligibility, “In order to play for the national team of a country, a player must hold the legal nationality of that country.”
“Any player with two legal nationalities or more, by birth or by naturalization, may choose at any age the national team for which he wishes to play,” the federation added. “If a player having two or more nationalities is summoned by a national member federation after reaching the age of eighteen, he is obliged to choose for which national team he wishes to play.”
Also named to the pool were naturalized players Stanley Pringle and Christian Standhardinger, alongside Japeth Aguilar, Raymond Almazan, Mark Barroca, John Paul Erram, June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Gabe Norwood, Paul Lee, Roger Pogoy, Matthew Wright, Robert Bolick, Jaymar Perez, and Beau Belga.
Meanwhile, Ilonggo point guard Kiefer Ravena, who will be eligible to play following 18-month suspension, was also among the roster./ASC, WDJ