Officials from Ever Bilena, the mother company of Blackwater, met with officials from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, headed by deputy director for international affairs Butch Antonio, to discuss the naturalization of Blackwater Elite import Greg Smith (for Gilas) and 6-foot forward Kelly Hardeman (for Perlas), Thursday afternoon.
“Greg, Mr. Dioceldo Sy [Sole proprietor of Ever Bilena] and Mr. Butch Antonio met earlier,” said Blackwater team manager Johnson Martines.
“And both parties are willing,” he added, hoping to hasten the process of naturalization for the two Americans.
Smith, 26, had already practiced with Gilas Pilipinas last April 20.
“He picked things up very quickly and that’s very typical of players who’ve been to the NBA,” coach Chot Reyes said about Smith, who is currently averaging 26.5 points and a league-best 22.1 rebounds this conference.
On the other hand, Hardeman, 23, is no stranger to Philippine basketball, as she spent her first 18 years in the country, studying at Faith Academy — the same high school that former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagle Kirk Long attended.
However, she was not able to secure a Philippine passport and is born to American parents. She eventually went to study in Azusa Pacific University, averaging 19.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks during her senior year.
After graduating, the 23-year-old decided to move to Denmark to play for semi-pro team BK Amager. Even against taller opposition, she managed to post norms of 14.4 points and 10.5 rebounds.
“Boss Dioceldo Sy has been talking with a lot of people in the government just to make the process fast and make it to the SEA Games or probably FIBA pa,” Perlas head coach Patrick Aquino added.
And to quicken the process, Ever Bilena is set to help fix the paperwork of the two.
“We have to work on the papers first. We have to fix that to get his papers approved as fast as we can,” Martines furthered.
For the mean time, both Blackwater and Smith are willing to help Gilas Pilipinas as practice players.
