Juan Gomez de Liaño was given an invite to join Gilas Pilipinas in its preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.

The red-hot rookie is expected to be in attendance on the first day of Gilas training camp on Tuesday, especially now that it is expected to miss some crucial pieces due to their respective professional and personal commitments.

Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo, for instance, are doubtful as they still have a game with their respective clubs in the Korean Basketball League until 20 November while AJ Edu is set to get married. Of course, Kai Sotto remains out after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury last January.

The Filipinos will be opening the first window of the qualifiers against Guam on 28 November at the Calvo Fieldhouse in Mangilao village in Guam and 1 December at the Blue Eagle Gym inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.

Gilas badly needs to sweep the first window if it wants to have a good chance of advancing to the next round. After all, its next assignments will not be easy as it faces powerhouse Australia and New Zealand in the second and third windows next year.

With that, Gilas coach Tim Cone badly needs all hands in deck, including Gomez de Liaño who dropped 32 points to lead Converge to an impressive 106-96 win over the Kings in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup last Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Right now, we’re considering him obviously. We’ll have him in practice,” Cone said following Ginebra’s 102-93 triumph over Phoenix on Sunday.

“We’ve had him in mind for a while. But it was a consensus on the coaching staff. Just feeling like that was a position that we felt we could use a little bit more of a scorer and a ball controller and a pick-and-roll guy.”