MANILA, Philippines: American Bennie Boatwright, who led San Miguel Beer to the PBA Season 48 Commissioner's Cup championship recently, is in Manila.

The 27-year-old sweet-shooting former USC Trojan is in town to submit some documents to kickstart his Filipino naturalization process so he can hopefully, play for Gilas Pilipinas.

Boatwright, who was interviewed by sports scribes during the Philippine Cup halftime game featuring San Miguel and Converge, shared that the decision to be Gilas' naturalized player is a "very easy decision" and "kind of a no-brainer."

While the original intention when he was first came to the Philippines, was to reinforce the Beermen, the idea of playing as naturalized player for the national team eventually, was offered.

"As the opportunity came, experience in playing here in the Philippines, you can't say no to that," he said.

Barring any hitches, Boatwright, a noted three-point specialist and no non-sense defender, will add to the Philippines' growing list of naturalized player led by Utah Jazz star guard Jordan Clarkson, Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame.

Brownlee is currently the primary naturalized player for Gilas, which last February, beat Hong Kong and Taiwan in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

Brownlee is currently playing for Indonesia club team Pelita Jaya on the IBL, but will eventually, rejoin the Filipinos some time in June to prepare for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament slated in Riga, Latvia from July 2-7.

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