Dave Ildefonso is not closing his doors to playing overseas despite trying his luck in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Draft.

The former Suwon KT Sonicboom guard said he wants to keep his options open even if he pursues his dream of playing in the PBA.

“It’s a different feeling representing your country individually in the professional leagues abroad. If I do get signed after the draft and an offer comes in for me after my first rookie contract, I will still like to go abroad,” said Ildefonso, who will suit up for Strong Group-Pilipinas for the 43rd William Jones Cup.

The 24-year-old cager played 23 games in the 2023-2024 season in the Korean Basketball League where he averaged 4.43 points.

Ildefonso, part of the Gilas Pilipinas pool, will join a deep batch of aspirants which include top amateur and collegiate stars in Justine Baltazar, CJ Cansino, Evan Nelle and Jerom Lastimosa.

The brother of Rain or Shine small forward Shaun and son of PBA great Danny, is looking forward to testing his skills against the league’s best players if selected in the Draft set on 14 July at Glorietta.

“I expect that the competition’s gonna be tough because the PBA is full of really skilled and talented players. I am still coming in as a rookie even though I already played professional basketball overseas,” Ildefonso said.

“I’m just going to stick to what I know and listen to my support group.”