| Greg Paulus is a phenomenally gifted athlete who | | | | decided to attend, Duke University in Durham, |
| is one of very few people ever to be a star | | | | North Carolina. |
| basketball player for a top tier hoops program | | | | Greg Paulus made an immediate impact with the |
| before continuing his athletic career at another | | | | Duke Blue Devils. As a freshman guard he was an |
| high profile university where he was able to win | | | | important element of a team that went 32-4 and |
| the starting quarterback job. In large part due to | | | | won the ACC regular season and conference |
| the underwhelming success from a win loss | | | | championships. The highly recruited talent |
| perspective in his encore football performance | | | | continued to be an important member of the |
| (4-8) the Greg Paulus story is not as well-known | | | | Duke University basketball program throughout his |
| as it otherwise would be. | | | | four year career there. What many people did |
| As a high school prep star at Christian Brothers | | | | not predict though (including Paulus) was that his |
| Academy near Syracuse, New York the 6'1" 180 | | | | playing time would dramatically decrease during his |
| pound Paulus won the prestigious Gatorade Male | | | | senior year when he was largely replaced in the |
| Athlete of the Year award for all sports after the | | | | lineup by sophomore Nolan Smith. The senior |
| 2004-2005 school year. The Ohio born athlete | | | | leader from Wisconsin by way of upstate New |
| who grew up in Wisconsin (about 100 miles north | | | | York only started a career low five games during |
| of Milwaukee) received numerous high profile | | | | his senior year. |
| athletic scholarships while excelling athletically at | | | | After completing his four years of eligibility with |
| the highly regarded private high school he | | | | the Duke basketball team Paulus surprised much |
| attended in upstate New York. Among the | | | | of the country by declaring that he intended to |
| notable schools that expressed explicit interests in | | | | again pursue football (after a four year hiatus) |
| having him play football at their programs included | | | | now that his college basketball career was over |
| scholarship offers to play quarterback at the top | | | | and the opportunity to play professional basketball |
| notch University of Miami and with the storied | | | | was nonexistent. After meeting with a few |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish. | | | | college and even professional football coaches |
| Ultimately Greg decided that basketball was the | | | | Paulus announced in May of 2009 that he would |
| college career that he would prefer to pursue and | | | | be joining the Syracuse University (SU) football |
| he had a bevy of options to choose from | | | | team. The 2009 football season proved to be a |
| including scholarships to play basketball at highly | | | | disappointing one for Paulus and Syracuse as the |
| respected programs which included the UNC Tar | | | | team finished with only four wins and eight losses. |
| Heels, Georgetown, and the school he eventually | | | | |