The Kobe Paras era at UCLA appears to have ended before it began. The incoming freshman guard, who was conditionally admitted to UCLA, has withdrawn from the university after failing to meet certain academic requirements, the school announced Wednesday. “They made their decision,” Middlebrooks said of UCLA. He accepted a scholarship from UCLA in October 2014 when he was 15. Paras was named after the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and was a sensation in his native country, with the Philippines Daily Inquirer and the Manila Times regularly detailing the success of his youth teams and his recent high school graduation.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 29, 2016 17:52 UTC