Rising senior guard Vanessa de Jesus will represent the Philippines at the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Australia, she announced Tuesday morning. De Jesus will play for Gilas Pilipinas, the Philippines Senior National Team, beginning June 26.
“I'm excited for the opportunity to suit up for the Philippines National Team,” said de Jesus. “Two of the most important things in my life are family and basketball…so having the opportunity to represent both on a national level I'm just very excited about.”
While de Jesus has never lived in the Philippines, both of her parents were born there. FIBA eligibility rules require players to have their passports before the age of 16. However, because de Jesus obtained her Philippine passport in May, she gained eligibility as a naturalized player.
She will play for Gilas coach Patrick Aquino, who has known de Jesus from the beginning of her Blue Devil career. While de Jesus is unfamiliar with most of the Philippine team, she has a past connection to Jhazmin Joson, who Aquino also selected for the team.
“I have known [Joson] since high school and being able to have this chance to meet up with her and get back on the court is something I'm looking forward to,” said de Jesus.
The Valencia, Calif., native has a wide skill set, including a solid jumpshot and great facilitating ability. However, she believes the intangibles will be her most valuable asset to this team.
“I've always just been a winner,” said de Jesus. “Since high school, I've won state championships, I've won in AAU and I think that experience and that relentlessness to win is something that I can bring to the table.”
Duke head coach Kara Lawson also has experience on the international basketball stage as an assistant in the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup and as head coach of the United States 3x3 Women’s National Team in 2021.
“I'm thrilled that Vanessa will have this opportunity to represent The Philippines on the world stage,” said Lawson. "The Asia Cup brings together some of the best senior national teams. She will be tested competing against professional players. I couldn't think of a better way for her to prepare for her senior campaign here at Duke. We will be rooting hard for her."
As a rising senior, de Jesus will be the longest tenured player for the Blue Devils coming into this season. She hopes to work on her leadership skills during this trip and come back as a much more effective player and leader.
“Being a point guard, I understand how important it is to be a great leader, because it starts at the top and it trickles down,” de Jesus said. “I hope this experience helps me learn who I need to be for my team just to help us achieve what we want to achieve.”
In addition, de Jesus wants to be an inspiration for other Asian-American basketball players during her time in Sydney.
“For me growing up, there weren’t many other Asian-Americans that were in sports and there were not many mentors to look up to that looked like me,” said de Jesus. “I hope to be a start and a fire to future Asian-American players because I think there’s a shift that we need in the culture, and more representation needed. I hope just to be a start of it, and I'm grateful to be part of it.”
Gilas will open the tournament with group play matches against Australia June 26 and against Japan June 27.
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Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity sophomore and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.