WITH his Ateneo days now behind him, naturalized Gilas Pilipinas big man Ange Kouame is keen on making comeback with the national team.
In the first stop of the Summer Play at SM with Gilas Pilipinas basketball workshop series at SM City Grand Central on Sunday, Kouame shared his thoughts on the national team in an exclusive chat with SPIN.ph.
Ange Kouame on his goal to play for PH in the World Cup
The reigning UAAP MVP left Katipunan as a champion and aims to return to Gilas as a two-way role player in the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila this coming August.
With resident Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee and Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson are expected to vie for the naturalized player spot, Kouame refuses to be taken off the conversation just yet.
"That's actually one of my goals — to play in the World Cup for the Philippine national team and represent the country," Kouame revealed to SPIN.ph.
"So I hope that soon, I'll be able to represent the country again. I really miss playing for Gilas."
Kouame's last donned the Gilas colors in the fifth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers against Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
In roughly 12 minutes of on-court action per game, he averaged a meager 3.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and one block.
JB or JC?
A tricky conundrum awaits Gilas tactician Chot Reyes when the time comes to select the final PH squad for the World Cup.
As per FIBA eligibility rules, a national team can only field one naturalized player in a FIBA-sanctioned tournament which includes the World Cup.
Despite finding himself in a competition against Brownlee (2023) and Clarkson (2022), Kouame, who was naturalized ahead of Brownlee (2021), has nothing but praise and admiration for his compatriots.
"It's actually kind of a good thing that they naturalized [Brownlee]," Kouame explained. "You can see the improvement — how they bring outside [shooting] to the national team also which helps [them] to be at the next level."
"I'm actually happy for [Brownlee and Clarkson] — the way they're really doing good for the national team."
Full faith on PH 'redeem team' for SEA Games
With the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games just weeks away, the three-time UAAP champ has full faith in the PH cagers to atone for their bridesmaid finish to Indonesia two years ago.
"I trust the new team that they put out," said Kouame. "They have some good players and I believe that they're gonna got out there and do their best to get the gold back."
However, the three-time UAAP champ still has a shot to represent the country as he is included in the men's 3x3 pool for the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia this May.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
