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Greg Paulus (HC Niagara University)

FWIW- Lemming has also been saying tOSU is on the short list if changes his mind on Duke

From his Tuesday premium chat

Michael (Trenton): Is Greg Paulus interested in the Wolverines? I read in a recent article that Paulus outperformed Chad Henne in a camp last summer. Is this true, and how would you compare the two?

SportsNation Tom Lemming: I have been told that he was the MVP of a camp that Chad Henne also attlended. Paulus is a prep version of Joe Montana. Since he has not yet signed a basketball committment to Duke, that has led to wild speculation that he is coming back to football. I talked to his dad last night and he said Greg just needs more time to decide between three scenarios -- 1. Just basketball at Duke. 2. Football and basketball at Duke. 3. Open himself up to signing a football scholarship to another school that will allow him to play basketball after the season. The football programs Greg is very serious about are ND, Virginia, Miami, Boston College, Syracuse, Michigan and Ohio State. As a sophomore, he had 73 football offers.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=6550
 
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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well said.

I have always felt that the ideal scenario for a two way player would be to RS football as a Frosh and play BBall from the start of that season. That way you can learn the system and not be playing catch-up every year.

That would be a great scenario for Paulus as it would make him a RS Soph when Smith/Zwick graduated.

Normally a kid of this caliber doesn't want to hear the RS term - but for QBs it is the norm and he would still be playing BBall as a true Frosh.
 
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An excerpt from the above-linked CBS article:

After vowing to focus on basketball when he committed to Duke more than a year ago, Paulus now is having second thoughts. Although he chose Duke over Notre Dame and hometown Syracuse, keep an eye on Ohio State -- which has a bonus recruiting lure: new basketball coach Thad Matta.

When he was at Xavier, which doesn't play Division I-A football, Matta made an enormous impression on Paulus. Had Matta been the coach at any of his other finalists, Paulus told friends, he would have chosen that school over Duke.


If he feels that strongly about Matta, along with having Tressel as the football coach and the football program's recent successes, not to mention the huge improvement in the basketball program, this could get real interesting real fast...
 
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QB is the one position where tOSU has never had a true NFL-caliber superstar. Think of the irony of having tOSU basketball coach bring the football program its highest rated QB recruit.

For those of us with very long memories, it would be nice symmetry. John Havlicek was a high school All-American in three sports -- football being his best and the sport that brought him to tOSU. But he settled in on the basketball team for Fred Taylor after he fell out of love with Woody Hayes.

So, in a way, Matta would be paying back an ancient OSU debt.
 
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It would be interesting to hear if GP saw the scUM game and the wide open explosive offense, the kind of athlete he is, he would be tailor made for it...if this would materialize I would bet we could get guys like Derrick Williams and Rouse to consider OSU....the possiblities are out of control!!!
 
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Here is his coach's story.

Coach adamant basketball recruit will sign with Duke

By Thad Mumau
Correspondent

Duke fans have been frantic for the past week, worried that the Blue Devils will lose a previously committed, highly acclaimed point guard prospect for the second straight year.

Last year, it was Shaun Livingston, who surprisingly shunned Duke for the NBA. This time, Greg Paulus is the "evasive" one. A 6-foot-2 two-sport star from Syracuse (N.Y.) Christian Brothers Academy, he committed to the Devils more than a year ago - in early September, 2003, at the start of his junior year.

But when the early signing period (Nov. 10-17) ended last week, Duke did not have a letter-of-intent signed by Paulus. We listed him among our signees because it was assumed his letter was in the mail. However, that was not the case.

Stories have been circulating up and down the East Coast that Paulus did not sign because he is wavering on his decision. There is speculation that he is considering a college football career and therefore is eyeing big-name gridiron programs.

Forget about it. That from Christian Brothers basketball coach Buddy Wleklinski.

"Greg will be playing basketball at Duke," he said. "The fact that he did not sign is being blown way out of proportion. The only reason he didn't sign is that he did not want to be a distraction when our football team is going for the state championship."

Paulus, who is a highly regarded quarterback prospect, completed 20 of 28 passes for 216 yards (his second-lowest total this season) and two touchdowns as Christian Brothers defeated Webster-Thomas, 44-14, in the state 2-A semifinals this past weekend.

For the season, he has connected on 187 of 290 passes, 64.5 percent, for over 3,300 yards and 40 touchdowns. He has 149 career scoring passes and more than 1,200 yards passing.

He will be entering his fifth year of varsity basketball. As an eighth-grader, he backed up his brother, Dan, at point guard and still made the all- (Onondaga) league team, while averaging just over 10 points.

Paulus averaged 17 points as a freshman, around 23 his sophomore season and 23.4 points and 6.2 assists as a junior, when Christian Brothers finished 19-5. He scored a career-high 46 points in a game as a sophomore.

"There is absolutely nothing to the rumor that he might pass that up to play football. He isn't even thinking of playing football at Duke, for that matter. He is looking forward to being part of a great basketball program."Greg wants to play point guard at Duke," Wleklinski said, "and that's what he is pursuing.

"He has worked hard in the classroom and in athletics to set himself up to have some great options. And there have been so many of them. Who wouldn't want to be the point guard at Duke and have the opportunity to play for Coach (Mike) Krzyzewski?

"He is going to honor his commitment and go to Duke. Greg is not thinking of anything else. It is not even an issue. It's that simple."

Wleklinski stressed that knowledge of the game and his position, not statistics, are what impresses college coaches about Paulus.

"He is a great teammate," the Wleklinski said. "He is very good at distributing the ball and getting it to the right people in the right places. In AAU ball, he played a little different than other guys because he looked to pass first, not shoot.

"Greg knows how to play; he has a great head for the game. That is what the coaches at Duke like so much about him.

"He is very quick, handles the ball very well and penetrates into the lane. He has really good body control, and he is never out of control. On top of that, he is an outstanding shooter. You can't leave him alone."

Asked if he feels Krzyzewski is concerned that Paulus did not sign early, Wleklinski said, "No, he knows what's going on. All the buzz that Greg might not wind up at Duke is way out of whack."

Paulus, who is ranked No. 28 in the country among high school seniors by prepstars.com, qualified academically for freshman eligibility as a junior.
 
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"The fact that he did not sign is being blown way out of proportion. The only reason he didn't sign is that he did not want to be a distraction when our football team is going for the state championship."

and

"...Who wouldn't want to be the point guard at Duke and have the opportunity to play for Coach (Mike) Krzyzewski?

First, how is his signing the LOI a distraction to the football team? Second, didn't the CBS article say that he would've signed at another of his short-list schools had Matta been there, which would imply he'd rather play for Matta than Kzarwtyruyfuyxvyvski?
 
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