The 18-player pool for the Gilas Pilipinas Youth squad has been announced for the upcoming FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers 2025 to be played at the City of San Fernando in Pampanga from May 24 to 30.
Gilas Legends Still Serving the Country
From representing the Philippines in the historic 2014 FIBA World Cup, both LA Tenorio and Gabe Norwood will still serve for their country in 2025, but this time, as Coaches.
Alongside them is long-time assistant coach Richard Del Rosario, who has been on the sidelines with Coach Tim Cone ever since they were still part of the San Mig Coffee franchise in the PBA.
Assistant Coach Richard Del Rosario is alson’t new to international competition. He had been with Tim when he coached the 2019 SEA Games, 2023 Asian Games, 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, up until the recent 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
One System for All
It now seems that whenever we see the Gilas Pilipinas play, whether it’s the Junior team or the Senior squad, one thing will remain certain, and that is the usage of the ‘Triangle Offense’.
Having both witnessed and been part of the success of Coach Tim Cone’s iconic ‘Triangle Offense’ in the past, LA and Richard now hope to replicate that system with Batang Gilas.
“We want to be consistent in concepts and the teaching of the defense. When LA talked to coach Tim, they agreed that LA can do whatever he wants offensively, but as much as possible, we need to teach the same as Gilas Men on defense,” said Del Rosario in a report published at the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas website.
“That’s part of the development of the program, so when these kids have the opportunity to play for the Men’s team, then it’ll be easier for them to understand,” he added.
And with 18 players coming from different backgrounds in life, assistant coach Richard wants them to play with one single purpose, and that is to bring honor and pride to the Philippines.
“We have to accept that they are being taught different things by their coaches. We’re not saying that what we’re doing is necessarily better than what they do with their own teams, but we want them to learn basketball as we need it to build this team,” he mentioned. “We need everybody to be on the same page.”
UAAP Juniors Standouts
The 18-man pool consists of former and current UAAP Juniors standouts as well as sons of both current and former PBA players.
Four standout players from UAAP juniors champion University of the East headline the pool of players.
Finals MVP Gab Delos Reyes (6’3″), along with teammates Brian Orca (6’2″), Goodluck Okebata (6’1″), and Jolo Pascual (6’1″), earned spots on the squad after helping the Junior Warriors capture the Season 87 title against the University of Santo Tomas in 2024. Joining them is UST star and Mythical Five selection Andwele Cabanero (5’11”), who was also named to the team by Gilas Youth head coach LA Tenorio. The squad is set to compete against regional rivals Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Included in the roster are second-generation talents Clark Khobuntin (6’3″) of National University Nazareth School, son of TNT Tropang 5G veteran Glenn Khobuntin, and Chris Paul Miranda (5’8″) of Far Eastern University-Diliman, son of former PBA guard Denok Miranda. Both aim to help the Philippines secure one of two coveted spots for the FIBA Under-16 Asia Cup in Mongolia.
FEU-Diliman’s Prince Carino, the tallest player on the 18-man roster at 6’7″, University of the Philippines Integrated School’s Jhustin Hallare (6’0″), another UAAP Mythical Five member, is likewise part of the team.
Rounding out the list are Rajver Sidhu (6’0″) of Lyceum, Ethan David Tan-Chi (5’10”) of Faith Academy, Everaigne Cruz (6’1″) of San Sebastian, Jeremiah Antolin (6’6″) of St. Augustine Institute of Pampanga, Jhello Lumague (6’3″) of Letran, John Restificar (6’3″) of Perpetual Help, Sacred Toring (6’5″) of NU Nazareth School, Samuel Esomchi (6’0″) of La Salle Greenhills, and Travis Pascual (5’11”) of Santolan High School.
Against the Best of Southeast Asia
The Batang Gilas will endure tough challenges in order to book a spot at the FIBA U16 Asia Cup to be played later this year.
These are their schedule:
- May 24 versus Vietnam at 7:30 PM
- May 25 versus Thailand at 7:00 PM
- May 26 versus Singapore at 7:00 PM
- May 28 versus Indonesia at 7:00 PM
- May 29 versus Malaysia at 7:00 PM
