Greg Paulus has chosen to go from being the focus of verbal abuse and scorn as a guard for Duke basketball to physical abuse as the quarterback of Syracuse. The senior has one year of eligibility remaining, and was one of the top quarterback prospects in the country before opting for basketball at Duke.Paulus made the decision quite a saga, as he traveled from working out with the Green Bay Packers to a flirtation with Michigan before narrowing the field to Nebraska or Syracuse. He ultimately chose Syracuse, his hometown team and the one he originally scorned in favor of Duke.
Under the always simple-to-understand and not-at-all-convoluted NCAA regulations concerning student-athletes (/sarcasm off), Paulus has an additional year of athletic eligibility in a different sport. He can transfer to another school right away to play as long as they offer a graduate program he wishes to take that is not offered at his prior school.
Paulus will not come in designated as the starting quarterback for the Orange. Coach Doug Marrone had previously designated redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib as the starter. He will compete, and it will be very likely that he will start the season as the back-up.
As the No. 2 starter, it is almost a certainty that he will see a decent amount of action. There are no shortages of weaknesses for a Syracuse squad that had hit bottom under Greg Robinson, and is now trying to climb out under the new coaching regime. One of the weakest areas is the Orange offensive line. The odds of any quarterback for Syracuse managing to play the whole season without needing a break from the expected physical abuse are long.
This is good news for many who have longed to see Greg Paulus take a real body shot rather than simply flop from the breeze as a guard blows right by him.
