Greg Paulus To Start At QB For Syracuse

Sports Betting News - August 18th, 2009 - Written by Bruce

Former Duke basketball player Greg Paulus has been named the starting quarterback for the Syracuse Orange this season. Paulus spent the last four years playing point guard for Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils. It has been four years since Paulus last played football, but he was a big time high school quarterback at Christian Brothers Academy in upstate New York. Paulus was voted the national high school player of the year back in 2004. Following his brilliant high school career, Paulus turned down scholarship offers to play football at both the University of Miami and Notre Dame. After graduating from Duke last year, Paulus transferred to Syracuse as a graduate student this spring. Next season will be Paulus' last year of eligibility to play college athletics.

Since joining the Syracuse football team, Paulus has only had one full week of official practice with his new teammates. This was apparently enough time for head coach Doug Marrone to name Paulus as the team's starting quarterback. He beat out sophomore Ryan Nassib and senior Cam Dantley to earn the starting job. Dantley was Syracuse's starting quarterback last year, while Nassib had been named this year's starter before the arrival of Paulus. After his basketball career at Duke was complete, Paulus made the decision to try to revive his football career. He actually worked out for the Green Bay Packers this April, before deciding to transfer to Syracuse. The school's director of athletics Dr. Daryl Gross commented, "It has been a great competition at quarterback and Paulus emerged as the No. 1 guy." He later went on to say, "I just love the kid. He's just got this command about him. He's a rare guy. He's kind of got that Tiger presence, that attitude and confidence." Paulus' first game will be on September 5th, when Syracuse will host Minnesota.

Last year Syracuse struggled greatly and ended up finishing the season with a 3-9 record. They are hoping that the arrival of Greg Paulus will provide the team with the spark they need to turn it around this season. The Orange have had star players such as Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison play for them in years past, but they have been lacking the talent in recent years to have much success. Paulus would have been a big time recruit for any college program four years ago, but it remains to be seen how much success he will have with so much time away from the game. No matter how well the Greg Paulus experiment turns out, there will be a buzz surrounding the Syracuse Orange football team this season.

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