New Notre Dame point guard Vanessa de Jesus will fly out to the Philippines this weekend to join Gilas Pilipinas Women for two key tournaments.
Vanessa de Jesus is expected to join Gilas Pilipinas Women this weekend ahead of their upcoming tournaments in Taiwan and China in early July.
The new Notre Dame point guard confirmed this to media in a press conference on Tuesday evening, where she spoke about making her return to the national team for the first time in 2023.
She is expected to play with the Gilas Women for both the William Jones Cup and the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
De Jesus reinforces a pool that mixes seasoned veterans and young players from the UAAP and some graduates from the Gilas Women youth program.
She will join the team for a few days in Manila before they fly out for the Jones Cup on July 1.
De Jesus is heading back to the national team freshly transferred to Notre Dame for one more year of college hoops in the US NCAA, moving on after four years at Duke University with the Blue Devils.
Last March, de Jesus and the Blue Devils reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before ultimately falling to South Carolina. They were crowned champions in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
She played 36 games in total for Duke in the 2024-25 season, coming off of the bench for all of them and norming 12.5 minutes of action per game.
Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish also made it to the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16.
Notre Dame and Duke were the two finalists in the ACC tournament with the Blue Devils winning, 61-56.
De Jesus joins a Gilas squad bannered by the likes of veterans Jack Animam, and Khate Castillo, along with younger players like Ella Fajardo, UAAP stars Kent Pastrana, Angel Surada, and Louna Ozar.
Youth products Naomi Panganiban and Sumayah Sugapong are also in the lineup.