The point guard has his heart set on playing quarterback.
Greg Paulus, the former Duke guard who finished with more than 1,000 career points for the Blue Devils over the past four years, announced on Thursday that he will enroll in graduate school at Syracuse and attempt to play for the struggling Big East football program.
Paulus, who grew up in Syracuse and was a star quarterback at Christian Brothers Academy, recently graduated from Duke with a degree in political science. Because he did not red shirt, and because he completed his degree in four years at Duke, Paulus can enroll in another school and compete right away if he is granted a waiver by the NCAA.
He’ll have one season of eligibility remaining if the paperwork goes through.
Paulus was one of the country’s top quarterbacks coming out of high school. He threw for 3,700 yards and 43 touchdowns as a senior, and lead Christian Brothers Academy to a perfect 13-0 season. He finished his high school career with 11,763 yards and 152 touchdowns passing, and received football scholarship offers from Miami and Notre Dame before focusing solely on basketball.
After being contacted by nearly two dozen football programs over the past few months, the 6-1, 185-pound Paulus decided to return home to Syracuse, though he said the program’s new coach, Doug Marrone, has made no promises or guarantees about playing time.
But Paulus has a decent shot of earning playing time.
Marrone, who was hired in December, has converted former starting quarterback Andrew Robinson to tight end and bumped red-shirt freshman Ryan Nassib ahead of Cam Dantley – last year’s starter – on the depth chart.
“My gut and my heart were telling me that it was the best place for me,” Paulus said during a conference call Thursday. “There’s going to be challenges along the way with getting into football shape, learning the system, getting back to speed. It’s a different challenge and one I’m looking forward to.”
