GILAS Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is hopeful that Justin Brownlee would already be eligible to play come the first window of the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers next month.
Brownlee was included in the 12-man pool that Cone intends to keep for as long as possible for four years, even though a sanction hasn’t been released about his positive test for THC after Gilas Pilipinas' run to the gold medal in the Asian Games.
READ Cone wants to keep his 12-man Gilas pool intact for four years
The absence of a ruling from any organization prompted Barangay Ginebra to sit Brownlee out for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup which ended with a semifinal sweep at the hands of San Miguel.
But Cone said there is an indication that Brownlee could be play for the first Fiba window where Gilas Pilipinas will play Hong Kong on February 22 and Chinese Taipei on February 25.
“Justin Brownlee is going to be our naturalized player if everything works out,” said Cone. “Their decision, we are hoping to come down, sometime this week that will hopefully free him up for the window.”
Brownlee was naturalized last year, and first played for Gilas Pilipinas during the sixth and final window of the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The 35-year-old Brownlee has already won a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games since he was naturalized.
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