CARL Tamayo will not be present for Gilas Pilipinas in its game against Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The University of the Philippines forward is rejoining the Fighting Maroons for their Korea trip in their buildup for UAAP Season 85, making him unavailable for the Philippines' second game in the fourth window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
See Gilas Pilipinas options, PBA Finals and more
UP program director Bo Perasol confirmed that Tamayo will fly out of the country on Sunday afternoon as UP gears up to play five tuneup games against Korean Basketball League (KBL) teams.
"He will leave with us today, so it's most probably that he won't be able to play [for Gilas] on Monday," the affable executive told Spin.ph.
Tamayo was the lone amateur which Gilas brought to Beirut in its 85-81 loss to Lebanon on Friday morning, going scoreless but collecting two rebounds and one assist as he battled foul trouble in 11 minutes of action.
Gilas has sevral options for a replacement for Carl Tamayo for the game against Saudi.
With his absence, it opens up one more spot in the 12-man roster for coach Chot Reyes as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is poised to announce the lineup for the Saudi Arabia game on Sunday night.
Roosevelt Adams, who was the last cut for the Lebanon game, is highly likely to take the spot left by Tamayo, although that still depends on the decision of the coaches led by Reyes.
Jordan Clarkson, Dwight Ramos, and Kai Sotto are expected to lead Philippines anew for the tiff.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph