Millora-Brown appeals case to FIBA to play Gilas as local

IT may not be for now but top prospect Quentin Millora-Brown (QMB) is hoping to don national colors on the international stage — sooner than later.

The 6-foot-10 Filipino-American standout revealed that he’s in the process of appealing his case to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to finally be eligible to play as a local.

“Absolutely, there’s an appeal in the works,” said Mr. Millora-Brown after facing Gilas Pilipinas himself with his club Macau Black Bears in a send-off tune-up match on Monday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

“The lawyers and my agent are kind of taking care of that. I don’t really have all the details on that but if you want to know more about that, they can probably tell you more if you reach out to them.”

Mr. Millora-Brown, whose grandfather was a University of the Philippines (UP) alumnus himself, has been on the Gilas radar since his rise as a one-and-one player for UP in the UAAP last season but FIBA ruled him as a naturalized player due to lack of necessary citizenship requirements.

FIBA requires a home player with foreign blood to secure a passport of his preferred country before turning 16 years old and Mr. Millora-Brown’s camp has moved leaps and bounds to prove that to FIBA but to no avail.

There’s no stopping that effort for Mr. Millora-Brown, whose dream is to represent the country in a homage of his Filipino roots, even if it takes a long while.

“It would be amazing (to play for Gilas). There’s so much respect for all of those guys and absolutely, just the ability to play for your country is amazing. So, if that comes up, there’s no way I could turn it down,” added Mr. Millora-Brown, who came from three US NCAA schools before towing UP to the UAAP Season 87 crown in his lone collegiate year at home.

Mr. Millora-Brown, who also admitted choosing Europe over the PBA Season 50 Rookie Draft for now, showed a glimpse of that potential to help Gilas down the road with six points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in Macau’s 103-98 loss to Gilas.

Even Gilas head coach Tim Cone admitted his desire to have a versatile and agile center like Mr. Millora-Brown, especially on his squad in need of size following the ACL injury of 7-foot-3 sensation Kai Sotto.

“He’s awesome. Man, I’d love to have him. He’s physical, he gets to the offensive boards really well. He has great size but (the possibility) is not there yet,” said Mr. Cone, who cleared that the Gilas’ naturalized spot belongs to Justin Brownlee alone at this point.

“I can dream and wish. I dream we had Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, but that’s not possible either. But if I had an opportunity, man, I would love QMB on the team.” — John Bryan Ulanday