Kobe Paras

This name uses Philippine naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Forster and the second or paternal family name is Paras.
Kobe Paras
No. 24 – Creighton Bluejays
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
League Big East Conference
Personal information
Born (1997-09-19) September 19, 1997
Quezon City, Philippines
Nationality Filipino
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 200[1] lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school
College Creighton (2016–present)
Medals
Representing  Philippines
Men’s Basketball
SEABA U16 Championship
2013 Yogyakarta Team competition
Men’s 3x3 Basketball
FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship
2013 Jakarta Slam dunk
2015 Debrecen Slam dunk
FIBA Asia U18 3x3 Championship
2013 Bangkok Team competition

Kobe Lorenzo Forster Paras (born September 19, 1997) is a Filipino college basketball player for the Creighton Bluejays. He played for the Philippine 3x3 basketball team. He committed to play in the United States for UCLA starting in 2016–17, but withdrew after the UCLA Admissions Department issued an academic decision to bar him from playing at UCLA. He is the son of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) legend Benjie Paras.

High school career

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.[2] Middlebrooks is not regulated by California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) regulation, which allowed Paras to avoid the conflict between school years.[3]

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Kobe Paras
SG		 Quezon City, Philippines Cathedral High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Oct 11, 2014 
Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:3/5 stars
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

College career

UCLA

Paras committed to attend college at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and play for their Bruins basketball team.[4] In October 2015, he signed a National Letter of Intent to join the team under coach Steve Alford,[5] and later formally signed on November 12, 2015.[6]

Withdrawal

However, on June 30, 2016, it was reported that Paras has withdrawn from playing for UCLA after failing to meet academic requirements.[7] According to Los Angeles Cathedral High School Principal John Montgomery, Paras was an honor student and met requirements to play in the NCAA. Montgomery cited "SAT scoring issue" as a reason for Paras' withdrawal. Paras scored 1750 out of the highest possible 2400. Although there is no absolute SAT score requirement at UCLA, the average score composite is 1941.[8]

Middlebrooks issued a statement that Paras was denied admission to the UCLA by the UCLA Admissions Department through an issued "corporate decision" on June 28, 2016. It denied that Paras had an "SAT scoring issue" and emphasized that Paras' academic achievements at Cathedral meant that he is a 100% academic qualifier for a division 1 college through the NCAA Eligibility Center. 80 Division 1 schools have expressed interest to sign Paras.[9][10]

Creighton

In July 18, 2016, Creighton Bluejays of the NCAA Division I, which competes in the Big East Conference, announced that they have signed Paras to play for them. Paras will be eligible to play for the collegiate team for four years.[11]

National team

Paras was part of the Philippine national team that participated at the 2013 SEABA Under-16 Championship.[12]

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.[13]

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 for the Philippine national team which was set to participate at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, he was not included in the final lineup. Paras expressed openness to play for the national team provided that it would not conflict his commitments in the United States.[14]

Personal life

Paras is the son of Filipino basketball star Benjie, a two-time PBA MVP and the only player in PBA history to be named Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, and actress Jackie Forster. Paras' brother, Andre, played college basketball in the Philippines and is now an actor.[15] He also has two half brothers from his father's second marriage and two brothers and a sister from his mother's second marriage.

References

  1. ↑ "2016-17 (M) Creighton Basketball Roster". Creighton University. 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Almo, Alder (29 August 2015). "Eligibility issue keeps Kobe Paras from playing final yr with Phantoms". Philippine Star. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Leongson, Randolph (11 June 2015). "Studies over basketball for UCLA commit Kobe Paras". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Leongson, Randolph (12 November 2015). "Kobe Paras officially joins UCLA Bruins". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Del Rosario, Paolo (12 November 2015). "UCLA Bruins officially sign Kobe Paras". CNN Philippines. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Kobe Paras withdraws from UCLA Bruins due to academic issues". InterAksyon. June 30, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ http://cnnphilippines.com/sports/2016/07/01/kobe-paras-ucla-bruins-sat.html
  9. ↑ http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/02/16/middlebrooks-clarifies-kobe-paras-has-no-sat-issue
  10. ↑ http://www.spin.ph/basketball/news/kobe-paras-ucla-transfer-middlebrooks-academy-cathedral-ncaa-division-1
  11. ↑ "It's official: Kobe Paras signs with Creighton". The Philippine Star. Associated Press. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Payo, Jasmine (8 June 2015). "Perfect Paras keeps dunk title". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
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