MANILA, Philippines -- Kobe Paras continues to draw attention in the United States.
Aside from being invited to the ongoing 2015 adidas Uprising All-American Camp in New York, Paras will also be representing the country in the adidas Global Nations camp that will run from July 31 to Aug. 3 in Long Beach, California.
Philstar.com learned the news via email from Middlebrooks Basketball, where Paras' high school coach William Middlebrooks is a co-director.
The Filipino prodigy will join his high school teammate Lucas Siewert, who will represent Brazil. They will join the world's top 18-and-under players that were selected from Asia, Africa, Canada, Europe, Latin America and US.
The camp has a dynamic, international approach to grassroots basketball that will feature NBA coaches and players, as well as current collegiate players acting as camp counselors. The guest coaches and players will provide invaluable insight and first-hand knowledge to the participants, illustrating the pressures, rigors and challenges that accompany the rise of any aspiring NBA star.
The 17-year old Paras has been busy this off-season with Compton Magic, one of the top Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) programs in the US that consistently produced college stars and NBA players from the West Coast.
Just last week, Paras helped the Compton Magic finished third in the adidas Gauntlet Series in Atlanta that earned him an invitation to join the 2015 adidas Uprising All-American Camp where Tracy McGrady (1996) and Dwight Howard (2003) made an impact that led them to jump to the NBA straight from high school.
Paras averaged four points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.3 minutes for the star-studded Compton Magic that have the likes of 6-9 TJ Leaf (no.12 in the nation, class of 2016), 6-1 Jaylen Hands (no. 22 in the nation, class of 2017) and Jalen Hill (no. 32 in the nation, class of 2017). They went 3-1 in Atlanta beating Upward Stars, 75-49, Dream Vision, 65-62, in their first two games before losing to Atlanta Celtics, 61-79. They beat Indiana Elite, 72-60, to finish at third.
The former De La Salle Greenhills standout and Siewert were invited to the prestigious camp with the help of their Middlebrooks, who is also the founder of Middlebrooks Basketball Academy and head coach of LA Purple Ghosts.
"He's (Middlebrooks) an amazing coach. He's a big influence to my game. I appreciate him so much because he's not the coach who puts the icing on the cake. He's the type of guy that will tell you straight what you need to do, what you need to improve on," Paras told Philstar.com during his brief vacation in Manila last month.
Middlebrooks also facilitated Paras' recruitment with the UCLA Bruins.
Paras and Siewert were lined up in Team Teague that will compete two games daily during the intense three-day camp that drew some of the best 88 high school players across America.
In his first high school season in the US last year, Paras averaged 15 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals in 24 games.
Source: Alder Almo of Philippine Star
