After waiting for five days, the Indonesian seniors basketball team can finally field a complete lineup in the 2017 Southeast Asian Basketball Championship as naturalized Indonesian Jamarr Johnson and Indonesian-American Arki Wisnu have secured their clearance from FIBA.
This was confirmed by Wong Chung Min, the commissioner of the tournament.
“Indonesia has already received the proper documents that will let the two players play in the tournament,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
Johnson, 28, is a former Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in the Indonesian Basketball league, posting norms of 15.3 points and 9.8 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 cager is part of club team CLS Knights Surabaya.
New York-born Wisnu, who stands at 6-foot-2 and is the reigning IBL MVP, plays multiple positions — from point guard to power forward at times. He is currently playing for the Satria Muda Pertamina Jakarta.
Both players struggled to clear their eligibility as the Perbasi, Indonesia’s basketball federation, needed to get documentation from the USA Basketball Association proving that the two had never played in the USA.
Currently, Indonesia is sporting a 4-0 record. They only have two games remaining, including a tournament-capping showdown against the Philippines on Thursday, May 18.
SEABA will release an official announcement later in the day.
