MANILA, Philippines -- Ateneo de Manila University center Ange Kouame is recovering well from a knee injury that has forced him to miss the recent games of the Gilas Pilipinas national team.

According to Ateneo assistant coach and scout Dean Castaño, Kouame is rehabbing and resting after being diagnosed with a meniscus sprain and a partial ACL tear, and should be back in action in time for the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament.

"He should be back in about, I'd say about two to three weeks' time," Castaño said in a press conference on Wednesday, where Ateneo introduced its latest recruit, Filipino-American point guard Paul Garcia.

"He [Kouame] will be in good shape by the time we open in October," Castaño assured.

• READ: Gilas to be without Kouame, Ildefonso in Korea tune-ups

Kouame, a naturalized Filipino, did not play in Gilas Pilipinas' friendlies against South Korea as well as the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers. He will also miss the FIBA Asia Cup this month.

Damn 😫…
I wanna play

— kouameangelo1 (@kouameangelo1) June 30, 2022

The center averaged 12.86 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 2.07 blocks per game for the Blue Eagles in the elimination round of UAAP Season 84 en route to Most Valuable Player honors.

After Ateneo's loss to the University of the Philippines in the UAAP Season 84 finals, Kouame expressed his intent to return for Season 85.

"Certainly, we finished second but we cannot go back where we come from. We'll try to figure it out. Next year is going to be better than this year," Kouame said at the time.

• READ: Kouame lives up to billing with MVP performance in Game 2
• READ: Kouame vows to return for Season 85 after disappointing end to MVP year