Naturalized player Justin Brownlee will be returning to the Southeast Asian Games after formally expressing his commitment to Gilas Pilipinas coach Norman Black.

Black said he had already secured the commitment of longtime Barangay Ginebra import together with other Filipino-foreign players in the 33rd edition of the regional event set from 9 to 20 December in Bangkok.

It’s going to be Brownlee’s second straight SEA Games stint.

He also suited up for the Filipinos in the biennial meet in Phnom Penh in 2023, helping them regain the title they lost when Indonesia shocked them in the 31st edition in Hanoi in 2021.

Aside from Brownlee, also making early commitments were naturalized player Ange Kouame, Remy Martin, Dave Ildefonso, Ray Parks, Matthew Wright, and Jason Brickman, who is expected to emerge as among the top picks in the Annual Rookie Draft of the Philippine Basketball Association on Sunday.

College player Veejay Pre also expressed his willingness to join. After all, he will not see action for University of the Philippines in the coming Season 88 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) as he is set to serve a one-year residency after transferring from Far Eastern University.

Black said he is looking for four more players to complete the squad.

“It’s been a challenge. It’s been very difficult for teams to release the players, particularly the teams overseas,” said Black, who had the luxury of fielding Brownlee and Kouame at the same time after SEA Games organizers imposed a “passport-only” eligibility rule.

“Right now, we do have some commitments from some guys who are willing to play. And here they are… right now, Justin Brownlee, Ange Kouame, Ray Parks, Remy Martin, Matt Wright, Dave Ildefonso, Jason Brickman and Veejay Pre have all committed to play for the team.”

Black, who also led the Nationals to the title of the Palembang SEA Games in 2011, added that he is still looking for some big men who will provide them the defensive muscles down low, especially those from the UAAP like Mike Phillips and Mason Amos of De La Salle University.

But for Brown’s wish to be possible, the UAAP has to adjust its calendar since it will not end until early December, provided that the finals series goes the distance

“We still have four slots left. We’re hoping to be able to add big men because, as you can see, we lack bigs. We are hoping we might get some consideration from the UAAP because they have a lot of big men there who could help us — and they’re young and they’re good. We are hoping we could get some considerations from them to allow their players play in the Southeast Asian Games.”

Black, however, said he’s still keeping his fingers crossed, hoping that those who verbally expressed their commitments will show up when they start their buildup for the biennial meet.

In particular, he admitted that he has no idea about the details of Martin, the 27-year-old Filipino-American guard from Kansas who is campaigning professionally in Iceland before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

“He’s committed to play,” the decorated tactician said.

“But when he will arrive, that I don’t know at this point. I don’t even know when he will start to practice. Until I get the complete lineup, I won’t really be making the announcement about those things.”