Paulus Ready for the TOC

Greg Paulus & his SRap AAU team will be making the trip to the Triangle area during Memorial Day weekend & Paulus can't wait. "I'm excited. I can't wait to get down there & check things out. I am really looking forward to it," says Paulus. Paulus' SRap team will make their initial appearance at the TOC on Friday at 6:30 PM when they will take on Team Orlando. As fellow Duke recruit Josh McRoberts' Spiece Indy Heat team is also participating in the TOC, Paulus would love to have a chance to compete against McRoberts' team. "I don't know whether they will put us in the same pool as Spiece, but I would love to have a chance to play them somewhere along the way," said Paulus.

Although the TOC is the next event on Paulus' schedule, he has plenty more still on his agenda during the summer. Paulus will be leaving on June 4th for his first trip overseas when he will compete with the Nike Junior National team in France, as they play against international competition in the 18 & under age bracket. He will be joined on the Junior National team by Connecticut commitment A.J. Price, Class of 2005 prospect Derrick Caracter, as well as several others high school & college players. After returning from France, Paulus will then make a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado to compete at the USA Youth Development Festival June 23-27. He will then be making the trip to Atlanta to participate in the Adidas Superstar Camp July 7-11. Finally, while Paulus has received an invite to the Elite 11 football camp for quarterbacks, he has turned down that invitation in order to compete with his SRap AAU team at the Big Time Invitational in Las Vegas July 22-26. Paulus also hopes to attend some 7-on-7 football camps at some point during the offseason, but has not yet determined when he will be able to work those events into his schedule.

There have been some recent reports that Paulus is receiving pressure from some high-major football programs to commit to playing football for their schools, but it is pretty clear that his focus is totally on being a point guard for the Duke basketball program. "I guess you can say that I am getting a little pressure. Some people call or stop by the school, but I am still at the same position that I have been all along. I am still very comfortable & happy with where I am at, which is to come to Duke & play basketball," Paulus stated. As for the possibility of playing football at Duke, Greg says, "I have not talked to Duke's football coach or any of the assistants. My focus is on going to Duke on a basketball scholarship & playing basketball."

Duke fans should make it a point to come out to Cameron on Friday night, May 28th, as you will have an opportunity to check out the future of Duke basketball with Paulus & McRoberts both taking the floor at Cameron for their respective AAU teams.

"Greg is coming to Duke & he is going to play basketball. He has a terrific opportunity at Duke, but he will not be playing football in college. However, he is one of the best quarterbacks in high school. Actually, he has been selected to play in the All-American game, which will be held in San Antonio in January. It is similar to the McDonald's All-American game in basketball."

"We were at the Five-Star Camp last week & Howard Garfinkel, who has been around a very long time, says that he is a combination of Bob Cousy & Dick McGuire. As far as more modern players, I think of guys like Mark Price & John Stockton, but I think he is a better scorer than those guys. I think he has an uncanny way of seeing the floor & there is no player who is quicker at getting the ball up the floor than Greg. He is also a very smart player & is always looking to improve his game. He is going to be in a great situation at Duke. He will be playing for one of the best coaches of all-time in Coach K & will also benefit by being around guys like Wojo, Johnny Dawkins, & Chris Collins."