Gilas Pilipinas forward Justin Brownee will be among the players to lead the Phiilippines in the 2025 SEA Games.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas already has eight names committed for the upcoming 2025 Southeast Asian Games, at least for now.
Norman Black, who will be acting as the Gilas’ head coach for the SEA Games, revealed on Friday that Justin Brownlee, Ange Kouame, Ray Parks Jr., Remy Martin, Matthew Wright, Dave Ildefonso, Jason Brickman, and Veejay Pre are expected to suit up when the December Games roll around.
READ: Norman Black faces roster hurdles in SEA Games coaching return
“I’ve been just trying to get my own team together. Right now that’s the most important thing, to get a team together that we can form, and then get them here for at least two weeks of practice, hopefully, or a week and a half of practice, and we’ll do our best to prepare for the Games,” said Black during Day 2 of the PBA Draft Combine.
Brownlee, idle in the PBA while the Philippine Cup plays out in December, will keep sharp with the national team.
The duo of Martin and Kouame, meanwhile, will have no problems with their eligibility as the SEA Games only require a Philippine passport as a prerequisite to play in the games.
READ: UAAP: Schools have final say on possible Gilas player release
Parks and Wright will be donning the Gilas jersey once more after being gone from the international level of play for a couple of years.
Gilas, according to Black, also has clearance from the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), which explains the addition of both Dave Ildefonso and Jason Brickman.
Coach Norman Black, who will oversee Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign for the Southeast Asian Games, says he has already asked some UAAP players to join the squad.
He, however, left the names undisclosed. @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/Y2LFEWqQCj
— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) September 5, 2025
The problem now lies in the squad’s shortage of big men, something Black hopes to fix in the coming weeks with the possible blessing from the UAAP.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
“We still have four slots left. We’re hoping to be able to add big men, because you can see, if you listen to the names I gave you, we lack bigs,” he said.
“We were hoping that we might get some consideration from the UAAP, because they have a lot of big men there that can help us, and they’re young, and they’re good. So we’re hoping that they’ll be able to make some adjustments to be able to allow some of their players to play in the Southeast Asian games.”
