With the eligibility issues for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games finally resolved, Norman Black has completed his Gilas Pilipinas Men’s roster.
TNT, despite being in the middle of its 2025–26 PBA Philippine Cup campaign, has loaned Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to the national team after the Thailand SEA Games Organizing Committee confirmed it would apply the “passport-only” rule for basketball.
Ganuelas-Rosser, a member of the Gilas “Redeem Team” that won gold in the 2023 Phnom Penh Games, will only miss two games for TNT — against NLEX on December 13 and Blackwater on December 19.
“He has experience in international competition, particularly in the SEA Games. I requested him, and fortunately, TNT’s management gave me permission to recruit him to the national team,” said Black of the versatile 6-foot-6 big man.
“He’s the type of player who can play big or small, and he can shoot from the outside, which gives us a lot of versatility. More importantly, he adds size to the lineup.”
With Ganuelas-Rosser on board, Gilas’ lineup is now complete. He joins naturalized Filipinos Justin Brownlee and Angelo Kouame; Osaka’s Bobby Ray Parks; free agents Thirdy Ravena, Matthew Wright, and Remy Martin; Abra Solid North’s Dave Ildefonso and Jason Brickman; and UAAP standouts Michael Phillips of La Salle, Kymani Ladi of Ateneo, and Veejay Pre of UP.
Now that the eligibility hurdle is out of the way, Black faces a new challenge: preparation.
“My biggest concern now is preparation — getting everyone together for practice.
“It’s not going to be easy at this point in the schedule, but I’m confident that as we get closer to the tournament, we’ll be able to hold enough practices to be ready,” said Black after Meralco’s 85–89 loss to NLEX at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“I estimate we’ll get about 23 days of practice in total. Some days will be twice-a-day sessions, some at Inspire, where we can have the entire team together to build chemistry as quickly as possible.”
However, uncertainty remains on when Ildefonso and Brickman can join Gilas. Abra Solid North is currently deep in the 2025 MPBL Playoffs and is expected to contend for a Finals berth, which takes place in December.
Meanwhile, the UAAP elimination round is set to end on November 23, with four teams being eliminated. By December 9 — the opening day of the SEA Games — two more teams will be out of contention.
The UAAP basketball competition is expected to conclude by December 14.
Parks, on the other hand, has been permitted by Osaka Evessa to leave Japan only on December 9, which means he will miss four B.League games.
“We still have players who might join late because of other commitments.
“For instance, Dave Ildefonso and Brickman are playing for Abra in the MPBL, and depending on how long their league goes, they could be late arrivals. Hopefully, they can still catch a few practices and join five-on-five sessions,” Black explained.
“Ray Parks will also arrive around December 9 since he still has games in Japan. I’m also not sure when the UAAP will finish — when Ateneo or La Salle might either win the championship or get eliminated — but we’ll do our best to get everyone together and form a competitive team for the SEA Games.”
Fortunately for the veteran coach, Brownlee, Kouame, Martin, Wright, Pre, and Ganuelas-Rosser are already available to begin training with the team.
Despite the challenges, Black remains confident that the Philippines can bring home its 20th basketball gold in the biennial meet.
“Let’s face it — having Justin Brownlee in the lineup helps a lot.”
#WATCH: With the Gilas Men’s roster for the #SEAGames2025 finally complete, Coach Norman Black’s focus shifts to one thing — preparation 🇵🇭🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/jFUAGjJE6J
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#LabanPilipinas pic.twitter.com/Ft7XPRKv9e
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) October 26, 2025
