THE move the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to include Malick Diouf as among the candidates for naturalization caught many by surprise especially since the big man out of University of the Philippines hasn't been mentioned in the past.
But the 6-foot-11 Diouf was in Congress on Wednesday to attend the initial hearing for his naturalization process along with Bennie Boatwright and Elizabeth Means.
READ Ex-UP center Malick Diouf a Gilas candidate for naturalization
It turned out Diouf would be made part of the SBPs 3x3 program.
"He is for the 3x3 (program). That's why he's one of the candidates for naturalization," shared a reliable source who SPIN.ph talked to about the matter.
No wonder Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone admitted having no idea about Diouf's application for naturalization when asked about the matter.
"I actually don't know anything about that. I wasn't consulted about that," said Cone after Gilas Pilipinas' Wednesday practice at the Upper Deck gym.
"That's something I have to find about. I can't tell anything."
Diouf, Means, and Boatwright attended the Congress hearing all wearing white polos.
The 26-year-old Diouf, a Senegalese, previously played for Centro Escolar University before transferring to UP, which he later helped win the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball championship that ended the school's 36-year title drought.
Diouf was adjudged Finals MVP that same season and named regular season MVP the following year although the Fighting Maroons failed to defend their title after losing to Ateneo Blue Eagles in the finals.
Following his collegiate career, the big man stayed in the country and was a mainstay of the Zamboanga Valientes in various local and international tournaments.
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