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Kouame: Pre, filipino ako

May 18, 2021 Theodore P. Jurado 400 views

A DELIGHTED Ange Kouame proudly proclaimed on Twitter yesterday: “Pre, Filipino ako!”

Ateneo center Kouame is now officially a Filipino citizen after the bill for his naturalization was signed into law by President Duterte.

An Ivory Coast native but has spent the last few years in the Philippines, Kouame was the UAAP men’s basketball Rookie of the Year in 2018 and helped the Blue Eagles complete a perfect 16-0 campaign the following season that cemented the Katipunan-based school’s dynasty.

The 23-year-old Kouame averaged 12.5 points, 11.79 rebounds, and 3.86 blocks per game for Ateneo in Season 82.

Now a proud Filipino, Kouame hopes to bring pride to the Gilas Pilipinas program.

“The SBP extends our appreciation to President Rodrigo Duterte for signing it into law and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Senator Bong Go for their assistance,” SBP president Al Panlilio said in a statement.

The national federation said that Kouame will now undergo the final steps required by FIBA before a naturalized player can suit up for a country.

“We are confident that he’ll be able to play during our hosting of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia,” said Panlilio.

“Although Kouame’s presence is crucial for these two tournaments, having him as an official member of the squad in the upcoming games is an early investment as we build towards the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup,” he added.

“It’s a great day for Philippine basketball and we’re thankful for the full support of our basketball community.”

Kouame is expected to be the defensive anchor of a young Gilas Pilipinas team that will compete in the upcoming FIBA events, where the SBP is sending an all-cadet squad.

With the scrapping of UAAP Season 83, Kouame has been training with the Gilas Pilipinas pool since last year, in preparation for the FIBA Asia qualifiers.

As Kouame’s naturalization bill became a law, the UAAP is expected to make any announcement soon regarding this matter. League rules said that a team is only allowed to field one non-Filipino player at any given time.

In a December online interview, coach Tab Baldwin said that Ateneo has no plans of adding a new foreign student-athlete once Kouame has been naturalized.

Kouame has three years left of his UAAP eligibility.

“I can tell you as the coach of the team that I would not be looking to add another import player. I won’t be taking advantage of Ange being a ‘local’ just because possibly the rules have not considered that scenario yet,” the Kiwi-American mentor said.

“For me, I think I would rather have our team play on the same basis as every other team, and every team has one foreign student-athlete,” he added.

“Once Ange legitimately changes his nationality, it does not really change the perspective on why he was brought to the country which is for the college basketball. I would not be in favor of exploiting that loophole to try and gain a competitive advantage for the team.”

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