MANILA, Philippines – For the November window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, B.League imports Kiefer Ravena of Shiga, Thirdy Ravena of San-En, and Dwight Ramos of Hokkaido have reaffirmed their commitment to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. 

The federation released a press release on Sunday night to make the announcement. 

The trio is currently in Japan preparing for the 2022–23 B.League season, so they won’t be able to participate in Gilas Men’s training sessions when they begin on Monday.

Once the league takes its first FIBA break of the season, which starts on October 27, the Ravenas and Ramos will come. 

According to Gilas coach Chot Reyes, Ateneo’s Angelo Kouame, UP’s Carl Tamayo, La Salle’s Kevin Quiambao, and free agent Francis Lopez have also been declared as members of the pool. 

June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez of San Miguel, Roger Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, and Poy Erram of TNT, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, and Arvin Tolentino of Ginebra, will all be practicing on Monday.

Chris Newsome of Meralco, Kevin Alas of NLEX, and Jamie Malonzo of Northport were all called up. 

For the fifth window, the Philippines will play away matches against Jordan on November 10 and Saudi Arabia on November 13.

Kiefer Ravena

In his undergraduate years, Ravena played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the UAAP. Kiefer Isaac Crisologo Ravena (/kifr/; born October 27, 1993) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Shiga Lakes of the Japanese B.League. He performs as a point guard.

Known as one of the best high school basketball players in the Philippines, Ravena, the son of former PBA player Bong Ravena, had a brilliant high school basketball career at the Ateneo de Manila High School in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. Three-time UAAP Juniors Champion (2008, 2009, 2010), two-time UAAP Juniors Finals MVP (2009, 2010), one-time FIBA Asia U-18 Mythical Team member (2010), two-time UAAP Seniors Champion (2011, 2012), and three-time UAAP Seniors Mythical Team member Ravena has a long list of accomplishments (2011, 2014 and 2015).

He was also named the UAAP Rookie of the Year for Season 74 and the Most Valuable Player for Seasons 77 and 78. He earned gold medals for Gilas Pilipinas at the Southeast Asian Games in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019.

Thirdy Ravena

Ferdinand “Thirdy” Crisologo Ravena III, a Filipino professional basketball player for San-en NeoPhoenix of the Japanese B.League, was born on December 17, 1996. During his undergraduate career, Ravena played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the UAAP. He performs the duties of a shooting guard.

UAAP Season 82 (2019)

Thirdy guided Ateneo to a 14-0 season sweep in his final season in the UAAP, guaranteeing them a spot in the championship game. They met the UST Growling Tigers in the championship game. winning in two games to defeat them and win Ateneo’s third championship in a row. Thirdy won MVP of the Finals for the third time in a row (First in UAAP history). Thirdy won the Finals MVP award for the third consecutive year because of his 32-point performance in Game 1 of the Finals.

San-en NeoPhoenix (2020–present)

The B.League team San-en NeoPhoenix announced on June 24, 2020, that it had signed with Ravena for the upcoming 2020–21 campaign. He is the first player ever to be signed on under the league’s non-Japanese Asian import Asian Player Quotas system.[6] Because of travel restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Ravena may only fly from the Philippines to Japan in October 2020.

Dwight Ramos

Dwight Ramos, a Filipino-American professional basketball player for Levanga Hokkaido of the Japanese B.League, was born on September 2, 1998. Ramos formerly competed for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) in college.

Ateneo Blue Eagles

After playing for the Cal State Pomona Broncos, Ramos moved to the Philippines to play for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP, but he had to complete residency requirements in 2019 before he could suit up in official UAAP games.[5] He assisted Ateneo in winning the 2019 Philippine Collegiate Champions League.[3] He was scheduled to make his UAAP debut for the Blue Eagles in Season 83[5], but that season was postpone He was eligible to participate in the PBA draft in 2021, but he opted not to do so in order to play with his brother for Ateneo.

Toyama Grouses (2021–2022)

On September 10, 2021, Ramos chose not to use his remaining UAAP eligibility year and instead joined with the Toyama Grouses of the Japanese B.League. Ramos only participated in the 2021–22 season, which saw his side place seventh in the west conference. His contract wasn’t extended by Toyama.

Levanga Hokkaido (2022–present)

Ramos stayed in the B.League and signed on with Levanga Hokkaido in May 2022, where he will play at least through the 2022–23 campaign.