Paulus Has Heavy Hitters Involved

He may have had a rough day shooting the ball from the field, but it was obvious that even on an off night, 6-2, 175 pound sophomore point guard Greg Paulus of Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, N.Y., is one of the top prospects in the Class of 2005.

Paulus scored 17 points last weekendt in a 76-51 loss to perennial New York City powerhouse Christ the King H.S. at the Prime Time Shootout.

Following the game, Rivalshoops.com caught up with CBA Head Coach Buddy Wleklinski, who filled us in a bit on Paulus' career at the upstate New York based school.

"Greg has had a great first three years -- he started in the eighth grade and just scored his 1,000th point about a week ago," Wleklinski said. "He had a great summer as you know, so he has drawn a lot of attention."

Rivalshoops.com caught Paulus in action back in July at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, prior to last weekend's Prime Time Shootout. At the Big Time, Paulus played with Mickey Walker's Donyell Marshall Foundation program, where he showed excellent poise and leadership skills for a rising sophomore. He also attended the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis that month.

With the terrific exposure he has received, many elite colleges are already involved with Paulus. North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame, Xavier, Syracuse and Georgetown are some of the schools that Coach Wleklinski cited as expressing serious interest in his star sophomore guard.

Notre Dame came up to CBA in the fall, while Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski was up at a practice last week.

Despite his rough game last Sunday against Christ the King, Paulus has enjoyed an excellent sophomore campaign, by all standards. He averages 22 points and seven assists per game.

"Today, he had one of those nights where the ball just didn't fall for him," Wleklisnki said. "He makes the team go."

Indeed, Paulus is a gifted passer who sees the floor well. So even when he isn't scoring, he can create for others.

"He sees the floor well and is very unselfish," Wleklinski said. "He has a high basketball IQ which people like, and he's a leader who's not afraid to tell people where to go and he can adjust on the fly."

"He has good quickness for a sophomore, but he is still learning to play defense," Wleklinski concluded. "That's one of those things that gets better as you go on, and he's a lot better this year than he was last year."

In addition to his basketball prowess, Paulus is also an all-state quarterback on the gridiron. He has broken the school's career TD passing record as a soph.

"I still think that he's a basketball player, and that if he wants to play basketball, that's where he is going to go," Wleklinski said.