William Navarro had a change of heart.
The Ateneo product has informed the Samahang Basketbol Pilipinas that he will take part in the special Gilas round of the 2021 PBA Draft.
The 6-foot-6 forward will be the final addition to the Gilas pool for this year.
“The SBP strongly believes that the program we have now would give us the opportunity to build the best team possible for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup,” said SBP President Al Panlilio.
“This is why it was important for us to get the commitment of talented players to join the pool. William Navarro initially begged off from joining but his stint inside the Gilas Pilipinas training bubble has convinced him that this would be the best direction for his development as a basketball player.”
Navarro, who forfeited his final year of eligibility to play in the UAAP, will be joining Jordan Heading, Tzaddy Rangel, and Jaydee Tungcab in the Special Gilas Draft. He is currently in his final semester in Ateneo.
“Again, the SBP thanks the PBA Board of Governors and Commissioner Willie Marcial for their flexibility in this matter and for allowing Navarro to join the Gilas pool instead. We know that a lot of teams had their eyes on Navarro but the Board of Governors saw past that to consider the needs of Gilas,” added Panlilio.
“He will be the last addition to our pool to give the PBA teams enough time to map their game-plan for the upcoming draft.”
The quintet will join the original Gilas batch of Isaac Go, the Nieto twins, Allyn Bulanadi, and Rey Suerte in the Gilas pool.
