Kobe Paras. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ Joaqui Flores
Is Gilas Pilipinas the next destination for Kobe Paras?
The 19-year-old prodigy would love for it to be as he expressed his intentions to represent the country in the international stage.
“This year, I’m taking a break from college basketball just because of residency and I really plan on trying out for Gilas,” he said.
Paras recently transferred from Creighton to Cal State Northridge, where he will sit out for a year before being able to play competitive college basketball in the United States.
With his basketball schedule on a minimum, the second-generation star seeks to get a look from coach Chot Reyes and possibly, see action in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
“I’m not the type of person who receives a call or text from a coach and plays right away. I wanna be fair and have an equal opportunity with everyone so I don’t really care if I’m famous enough. I care to try out before to even entering the team,” he said.
For the meantime, Paras will join forces with Jeron Teng, Kiefer Ravena, and JR Quiñahan with Chooks-Pilipinas 3×3 as they represent the country in the 2017 Fiba 3×3 World Cup in Nantes, France from June 17 to 21.
Being the youngest in the four-team crew, the 6-foot-6 forward is eyeing to absorb every lesson he can get from seasoned teammates.
“Just being able to team up with Kiefer and Jeron is just really great. I’ve been keeping up with Kiefer and Jeron, just seeing them play, learning form them, it’s a great experience. Hopefully, we’ll show what we can do,” he said.