5 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Paulus will hold an in-person press conference and teleconference Thursday at 10 a.m., but he will not be announcing any immediate decisions, Duke spokesman Matt Plizga told The Chronicle. Instead, Paulus will discuss his post-basketball options.
4 p.m. WEDNESDAY: The language in the Associated Press' story—which appears on ESPN.com under the headline "Cutcliffe: Paulus invited to spring tryout"—is a bit misleading, so we called Sports Information Director Art Chase to clear up some of the confusion. The grafs in question:
Cutcliffe said Wednesday he's told the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Paulus, a standout quarterback in high school who just finished his fourth year of basketball at Duke, that he could try out for a spot at inside receiver in Duke's last six spring practices. Cutcliffe said he and Paulus "talked extensively" about the possibility of Paulus joining the football team, but the bottom line was there was "no way" he could come out and try to play quarterback for the Blue Devils after such a long hiatus from the position.
Despite the offer, Paulus decided to explore other options, Chase said. It wouldn't hurt to add a line to the AP story that clarified that Paulus did not take Cutcliffe up on the offer, as this post on ACC Now does. After all, Chase said we weren't the only ones to call to inquire about the language.
On another note, Cutcliffe will tape a segment for ESPN later this afternoon to appear either on SportsCenter or ESPN News, Chase said.
3 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Trying to picture what Paulus looks like on the football field? We know that he set six New York passing records and was a four-time All-State selection, culminating with a Gatorade National Player of the Year honor his senior year, so we tried to find some videos to back up the stats. Unfortunately, Paulus played B.Y.T., which means he doesn't have hordes of promotional videos set to half-inspiring hip-hop tracks on YouTube. (Whether he ever would have is another question, too.)
We did, however, come across highlights from Christian Brothers Academy's state semifinal win from 2001, when Paulus was a freshman. If you find any other free videos available to the public, feel free to drop them in the comments section below, and we'll try to include them in the post:
1 p.m. WEDNESDAY: The Chronicle reported Tuesday night that Paulus won't use his extra year for Duke next year, but David Cutcliffe offered more expansive comments in the ACC's spring teleconference Wednesday.
Cutcliffe and Paulus had discussed the point guard playing for the Blue Devils next year, but not at quarterback. Cutcliffe saw Paulus more as a slot receiver or defensive back, especially with Duke's logjam at the quarterback position. He offered him a chance to join Duke for its last six practices, but Paulus decided to explore other options.
"We talked extensively," Cutcliffe said. "He's a quarterback at heart. There was no way he was going to be able to compete and play quarterback for us, and I think that was the deciding factor."
Senior Thaddeus Lewis is on track to be a four-year starter for the Blue Devils, and the All-ACC quarterback has a capable backup in redshirt freshman Sean Renfree, a four-star recruit coming out of high school. Three-star incoming freshman Sean Schroeder figures to be third on the depth chart. Senior Zack Asack, Lewis' backup last season, has moved to safety.
ORIGINAL POST: First, the Green Bay Packers showed interest in Greg Paulus as a football player.
Now, it's the University of Michigan.
FOX Sports' Jeff Goodman reported Tuesday that Paulus, the former Duke point guard, was in Ann Arbor, Mich. Tuesday to watch practice and discuss playing quarterback in Rich Rodriguez' spread offense with the head coach. Paulus originally worked out for the Packers last Thursday in Durham, but he has an extra year of NCAA eligibility to play another sport. He won't use that year at Duke, Sports Information Director Art Chase said.
Goodman also reported that "a half-dozen NFL teams and several other college programs" have shown interest in Paulus in pads.
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