NATIONAL team pool members William Navarro and Jaydee Tungcab's applications for the upcoming PBA Rookie Draft hike the number of applicants to 80 ahead of the league's Jan. 27 deadline.
The inclusion of the Gilas pool members further deepens the crop of talents in what is expected to be one of the most loaded aspirants pool in recent history.
Navarro, a 6-foot-6 center from Ateneo, and Tungcab, a 6-foot-2 guard from University of the Philippines, were part of the cadets called up for duty in the second window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Manama, Bahrain last November.
Each played a game and contributed heavily in Gilas' two-game sweep of Thailand.
And their recent declarations and subsequent submission of application forms further boost talks of having another special Gilas round for this year's draft class.
Aside from the two, Fil-Aussie shooter Jordan Heading has also formalized his entry to the field.
The 24-year-old gunner was a member of the Batang Gilas team in the 2011 Fiba Asia Under-16 Championship alongside Isaac Go, Prince Rivero, and Jjay Alejandro in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Heading last suited up for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas where he garnered 7.9 points on 36-percent shooting from threes, alongside 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the 2019-20 ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season.
Also among the players who applied for the annual rookie selection proceedings are Fil-Am defender Alec Stockton of Far Eastern University and Fil-Am guard Mikey Williams, who played for Mighty Sports as well as GenSan Warriors in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
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