Kobe Paras ends playing career with LA Cathedral

Filipino basketball star Kobe Paras won’t be playing for his high school team LA Cathedral Phantoms this season. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

UCLA-commit Kobe Paras had to cut short his high school playing career with LA Cathedral.

His coach William Middlebrooks bared the development to the Los Angeles Times, saying that the difference between the academic calendars in the Philippines and the United States caused the mix-up.

“Due to the difference in academic calendars between the United States and the Philippines, Kobe would exhaust his eight semesters of eligibility at the end of the 1st semester this year,” Middlebrooks told LA Times. “His family made the decision not to have him play for Cathedral for only half a basketball season.”

The 17-year-old Paras had already played two years in high school for La Salle Greenhills in the NCAA before going to the United States.

He will no longer suit up for Cathedral but Paras, the son of PBA legend Benjie, will still attend classes in the same school.

Paras would exhaust his last remaining semester playing for the Middlebrooks Academy team before going to college in UCLA.

He was a key player for the Phantoms averaging 15 points per game as a junior. Paras also attended numerous basketball camps with his AAU team Compton Magic.