Being part of Gilas Pilipinas’ pool was exciting already for Ateneo Blue Eagles recruit Dwight Ramos.
So one can only imagine how thrilled he felt the moment he learned he is part of the 12-man lineup that will take on Indonesia in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers’ first window on Sunday.
“I was already excited just to be part of the pool, and now that I’m part of the lineup, it was just like, ‘Whew!’ I don’t know what else to do,” said the 21-year-old, 6-foot-5 guard-forward.
Ramos was so elated that he told his parents about his inclusion, which they all celebrated.
“My parents just flew out here. So I told them right when they landed and then we met up with them last night, we ate,” he shared.
“We ate dinner together, kinda celebrating I was part of the lineup.”
Sunday’s assignment will be the first-ever national team duty for Ramos, and he feels immensely honored.
“Just wearing the practice jersey, you already feel like, ‘Oh! I’m playing for something big!’ Just putting on the real game jersey now, it’s like, ‘It’s time to go,” he said.
“I’m just gonna give it my best.”
This particular team has upstarts in tow. Besides Ramos, part of the squad are former Blue Eagles Isaac Go, Matt Nieto and Thirdy Ravena, and UP Fighting Maroon Juan Gomez De Liaño.
So for Ramos, their clash against their Southeast Asian rivals is the time to prove themselves.
“I don’t think we’re taking it like ‘oh, we’re the better team ‘cause we have a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces.’ So it’s more like we have something to prove,” said the Fil-American.
“We’re probably gonna come out there strong. It’s a new group of guys we have. We’re not gonna come out complacent. We’re all fresh. Just looking with a lot to prove in the first game.”
