Navarro joins exodus to foreign front
MANILA, Philippines — PBA rising star William Navarro of the Magnolia Hotshots is officially headed to Korea with the Busan KCC Egis.
Busan yesterday announced the signing of Navarro for the upcoming 2025-2026 season, ending the 6-foot-6 forward’s short stint with Magnolia after a mid-conference trade with NorthPort in PBA Season 49.
“Welcome, William. We ask for lots of support and encouragement to William Navarro, who is making a new start at KCC Egis,” said the Korean Basketball League (KBL) club.
It will be Navarro’s international league debut after a foiled stint with the Samsung Seoul Thunders in 2022.
The former Ateneo standout then signed with Seoul but took a U-turn instead to honor his contract obligations with Gilas Piipinas and NorthPort, which picked him No. 2 in the 2021 special draft.
Navarro eventually played for the Batang Pier but sustained an ACL injury in the same year before coming back to fine form as one of the team’s best players in 2023 and 2024.
The 28-year-old player had his breakout performance this season, especially in the Philippine Cup with a double-double average of 20.57 points and 10.57 rebounds laced by 1.86 assists and 1.14 steals with the Batang Pier.
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