FILE– Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player candidate Bennie Boatwright. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—The process to make Bennie Boatwright the latest Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player has encountered some delays.
National team coach Tim Cone said that Boatwright’s exclusion from the 15-man pool for 2025 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers was due to some issues with his naturalized papers.
“The bottomline is, his papers got delayed because of issues in the government. He got put on the back burner and he’s not eligible yet,” said Cone in a press conference on Wednesday.
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“I know that there’s a couple of guys in the government helping us out. Not sure if I should mention their names or not,” he added in jest.
Boatwright’s conversation with the SBP regarding naturalization started earlier this year when the Beermen’s import balled out in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
His stellar play led to the Beermen winning the championship in six games over the Magnolia Hotshots, where he averaged 30.3 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
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The former PBA import, though, remains in recovery from an Achilles injury.
Cone is hopeful that Boatwright could join Gilas Pilipinas for the next window, once he is granted his Filipino citizenship.
“We’re still waiting for him and in the meantime, Ange (Kouame) is our backup as a naturalized player. Bennie still can’t play until December anyway as he’s coming off an injury but he’s definitely a candidate for the February window.”
“We’ll take a look at that and see what happens then.”