RJ Abarrientos joins Quentin Millora-Brown and Ange Kouame as new names officially added to the Gilas Pilipinas pool for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, which start this November.
Gilas Pilipinas Men officially added Quentin Millora-Brown, RJ Abarrientos, and naturlized Filipino Ange Kouame to the expanded national team pool for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas announced this development on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
[RELATED STORY: Quentin Millora-Brown newest addition to Gilas Pilipinas pool, says coach Tim Cone]
The new names will join the team that competed in the FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia, namely Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, June Mar Fajardo, Cjay Perez, Dwight Ramos, Japeth Aguilar, Kevin Quiambao, Justin Brownlee, Carl Tamayo, and AJ Edu.
Completing the 16-man pool is Kai Sotto, who has missed a chunk of this year’s games due to a torn ACL he suffered in January.
[ALSO READ: Injured Kai Sotto no longer traveling with Gilas Pilipinas to FIBA Asia Cup 2025]
The 6-foot-10 Millora-Brown, meanwhile, recently won an appeal with FIBA which saw the basketball governing body grant him a local status.
“Continuity is still the main priority of coach Tim Cone but we saw it fit to add a couple of pieces to the training pool,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.
Panlilio also clarified that even with Kouame joining the pool, Brownlee remains the primary naturalized player for the national team.
“Obviously, Justin will still be the top choice in terms of having a naturalized player in the lineup but we need to take advantage of actually having multiple naturalized players,” he added.
Gilas begins its World Cup Qualifiers campaign in November where it is bunched together with Australia, New Zealand, and Guam in Group A.
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.