Josh McRoberts did not know what to do. It was September of his junior year, he was 16 years old and he had to stand up at a press conference the next day and announce his intention to accept Duke's scholarship offer. McRoberts wanted to write the speech on his own, without his parents' input, but he did not know what to say.
So he did what any smart power forward does when he needs help: he asked his point guard.
McRoberts had not yet talked to fellow Duke commit Greg Paulus, but he knew that Paulus had weathered a press conference of his own earlier that month. So when the point guard called, the big man knew just what to ask.
"He just kind of told me what he said," McRoberts said. "When you're 16 and you're having a press conference, you get help wherever you can."
It would be easy to extend the story from there-the highly-touted freshmen who committed to Duke within two weeks of each other would come to campus, room together and be generally inseparable. It would be especially easy because both were McDonald's High School All-Americans and both said playing for Duke was a dream of theirs when they were younger.
Paulus and McRoberts did wind up rooming together at Duke, and they are good friends, but their story is not so simple.
The 6-foot-10 McRoberts struck up a friendship with star Blue Devil guard J.J. Redick, who hosted him on an official recruiting visit during the forward's second year of high school. Though Redick initially thought high-school-age McRoberts looked like a "tool," and decided that he "would never hang out with that kid," the two remained in touch and grew close.
Paulus, meanwhile, said he is close with all of his teammates but has no relationship with any of them like McRoberts has with Redick.
And while Redick and McRoberts bonded further on fall trips, while travelling to each other's hometowns, Paulus struggled a little more with the adjustment to college life.
"It's been a little tougher than I thought it would be-just being away from home and being on your own and the basketball and the high level that it is," Paulus said. "It's been fun being on my own, but it's been a lot of learning. But I'm starting to get it now."
Even if they are not as close as might be assumed, Paulus and McRoberts both said that talking to each other, as well as to other teammates, before their arrival on campus helped their adjustment to college life during the team's summer workouts. McRoberts' mother, Jennifer, echoed those sentiments and said that Josh's already established relationships with the coaches and his teammates made it easier to drop him off at school.
The two moved into an Edens Quadrangle dorm room together in mid-summer. They helped each other through summer workouts before moving to East Campus at the start of the year.
"Me just knowing Josh or him knowing me, if we were having a bad day, you know, we'd know what to say," Paulus said. "I definitely think that it worked both ways with us helping each other out this summer."
They described the atmosphere of the East Campus room they share with freshman walk-on Jordan Davidson as very laid-back. McRoberts said they do not have a lot of free time to spend in their room because of basketball commitments, but while they are in the room they spend a lot of time sleeping or relaxing.
"Of course there's competition on the Playstation, but we just kind of hang out," Paulus said. "Competition is every other part of the day, but not that part."
Paulus is the more studious of the two, and McRoberts will occasionally make a joke at the expense of Paulus' frequent studying. But the point guard, a self-described dork, laughs off the insults.
"Josh is the man," he said.
That thick-skinned nature may be essential for both Paulus and McRoberts this season. Redick, the Duke player other teams' fans love to hate, expects McRoberts and Paulus to be his most-hated successors.
"The first thing I thought when I saw [Paulus] play was that he was a punk, and I loved it," Redick said. "He's going to be the next hated Duke player, I'll tell you that right now.... I know when we go up to [Indiana, McRoberts' home state] Josh is going to get it a lot."
They will be hated a lot more if Duke has as successful a season as many have projected, and a relationship that started with a simple phone call could lead to a National Championship.
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