American forward set to play for S . Korea nat ' l basketball team through naturalization SEOUL , Jan . 22 ( Yonhap ) -- An American forward is set to play for South Korea men ' s national basketball team , having completed the naturalization process on Monday . Ricardo Ratliffe , who plays for the Seoul Samsung Thunders in the Korean Basketball League ( KBL ) , passed his citizenship interview with the Ministry of Justice for special naturalization in the area of sports . He will be now eligible to play for the national team . Ratliffe , a Virginia native , is considered one of the top foreign players in the KBL . The 28 - year - old won the league championship in three consecutive seasons with Ulsan Mobis Phoebus from 2012 to 2015 , before moving to the Thunders . For the last six seasons , Ratliffe averaged 18 . 3 points and 10 . 3 rebounds per game . He also won the KBL ' s top foreign player award twice . Ratliffe is the fourth foreign basketball player to earn South Korean citizenship through the special naturalization process , following Moon Tae - young , Moon Tae - jong and Kim Han - byeol . However , since the previous players all had South Korean mothers , Ratliffe is the first naturalized player not of Korean descent The Korea Basketball Association ( KBA ) said Ratliffe will be able to make his South Korea national team debut next month in the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2019 International Basketball Federation ( FIBA ) World Cup . South Korea is scheduled to take on Hong Kong at home on Feb . 23 for its Group A contest . The deadline for the game against Hong Kong is Feb . 5 . In this file photo , taken on Jan . 16 , 2018 , Seoul Samsung Thunders forward Ricardo Ratliffe gets set for a free throw during a Korean Basketball League ( KBL ) game against the Seoul SK Knights at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul . ( Yonhap ) kdon @ yna . co . kr ( END )