Kobe Paras
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
September 19, 1997 Quezon City, Philippines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Filipino | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 86 kg (190 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High school |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Shooting guard / Small forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medals
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
Kobe Lorenzo Paras (born September 19, 1997) is a Filipino basketball player and has played for the Philippine 3x3 basketball team. He will play college basketball in the United States for the UCLA Bruins starting in 2016. He is the son of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) legend Benjie Paras.
Career
Youth
High school
Paras entered Cathedral High School in Los Angeles in the middle of the 2013-14 school year where he played for the school's basketball team, the Phantoms. Prior to entering Cathedral, Paras attended La Salle Greenhills in the Philippines where he also played for the institution's basketball team. However, Paras decided against playing for the Phantoms for the 2015-16 school year. He would have only been eligible to play for the Phantoms until the first semester due to an eight semester limit. The eligibility limitation was due to the difference between academic years in the Philippines and the United States. He instead decided to play for Middlebrooks Academy prep team for his final year in high school while continuing to attend Cathedral.[1] Middlebrooks is not regulated by California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) regulation, which allowed Paras to avoid the conflict between school years.[2]
College career
Paras plans to attend college at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and play for their Bruins basketball team.[3] In October 2015, he signed a National Letter of Intent to join the team under coach Steve Alford.[4] UCLA formally signed Paras to their basketball team on November 12, 2015.[5]
| Name | Home town | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe Paras SG |
Quezon City, Philippines | Cathedral High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 11, 2014 | |
Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
| ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: | ||||||
Sources:
| ||||||
National team
Paras was part of the Philippine national team that participated at the 2013 SEABA Under-16 Championship.[6]
In 3x3 basketball, Paras represented the Philippines at the 2013 and 2015 FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Championship. While the national team failed to win the main 3x3 tournament at both editions, He won the slam dunk championships also on both occasions.[7]
He was also part of the Philippine national team that participated at the 2014 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship that finished fifth, wherein he scored 27 points en route to a 113-105 overtime victory against Japan.
He was included in the initial line up to the Philippine national team which was set to participated at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games although he was not included in the final lineup. Paras has expressed openness to play for the national team provided that his commitments in the United States is not in conflict.[8]
Personal life
Paras' father, Benjie, is the only player in PBA history to be named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season. Paras' brother, Andre, also plays basketball and is an actor.[9]
References
- ↑ Almo, Alder (29 August 2015). "Eligibility issue keeps Kobe Paras from playing final yr with Phantoms". Philippine Star. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ Smith, Cam (August 27, 2015). "Filipino teen hoops superstar Kobe Paras leaves Cathedral basketball program in L.A.". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015.
- ↑ Leongson, Randolph (11 June 2015). "Studies over basketball for UCLA commit Kobe Paras". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ Leongson, Randolph (12 November 2015). "Kobe Paras officially joins UCLA Bruins". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ↑ Del Rosario, Paolo (12 November 2015). "UCLA Bruins officially sign Kobe Paras". CNN Philippines. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ↑ Terrado, Reuben (16 July 2013). "Basketball Kobe Paras helps get PH campaign off to hot start in Seaba U-16 tilt". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ Payo, Jasmine (8 June 2015). "Perfect Paras keeps dunk title". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ Joble, Rey (15 February 2015). "Marcus Douthit, Kiefer Ravena, Kobe Paras named to initial Gilas national team pool for SEA Games". InterAksyon.com. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ Sonheimer, Eric (October 13, 2014). "There's a new Kobe in town at Cathedral High". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015.