The Puerto Rico Basketball Federation (FBPUR) announced on Friday a 12-player roster for the national basketball team’s fifth qualifying window for the 2027 FIBA World Cup. Point guards Jezreel de Jesús, André Curbelo and Javier Ezquerra head the group. Puerto Rico plays two decisive games: on November 26 in Panama and on November 29 against Uruguay at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón.
Forward Enrique Freeman, announced Tuesday among the 24 preliminary selections and recently waived by the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, was left off the roster. Of the three point guards, only Curbelo has not yet played in these qualifiers. The rest of the squad: guards Alfonso Plummer, Stephen Thompson Jr. and Rafael Pinzón; forwards Ramses Meléndez and Isaiah Piñeiro; Daniel Rivera; and centers Ysmael Romero, George Conditt IV and Christian Negrón.
Thompson and Piñeiro are the only two players from this group who have taken part in all eight previous qualifying games. The national team must win both games to keep its qualification hopes alive and avoid missing a World Cup for the first time since 1982. Puerto Rico sits fifth in Group F at 2-6, while Canada leads at 8-0, followed by Argentina and Uruguay at 6-2 each.
The top three teams in Group F, along with the top three in Group E, qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar, with the last spot going to the best fourth-place finisher.