Leveraging College Athletics for One More Year
May 14th, 2009 - byCynics might say that Greg Paulus is transferring to Syracuse to play one season of football just because his four year basketball career ended in disappointment. After arriving on campus as one of the top basketball and football recruits in the country, Paulus chose to concentrate on basketball. He started for the Duke team as a freshman, but after showing initial promise of a pro career he was coming off the bench as a senior. When the Duke season ended it was
Greg Paulus
clear that Paulus was no longer an NBA prospect.
He seemed destined for a career playing in Europe or moving on from sports altogether when he shocked the sports world by working out for the Green Bay Packers. The workout led to fliratation with both Michigan and the Duke football team. After a month or so of examining his options Paulus announced today that he will be attending Syracuse.
However, the interesting tidbit that I took from his announcement wasn’t the plan to play football, but how he plans to use the opportunity to further his education. He plans on applying to Syracuse’s highly regarded Newhouse School of Communications.
“I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to play college basketball,” Paulus said. “And I am very lucky to have another opportunity to do something else in college I love. I’m really excited about having a chance to further my education and play college football.”
In my opinion its fantastic that he is taking what could be seen as a dissapointment and turning it into another opportunity not only in sport but in life.
But, unlike Paulus most athletes that want to get recruited only have one chance to transfer their athletic ability into the opportunity to receive funding for college. Getting a second chance or a do-over is unheard of. Messing up even one exchange with a coach or attending the wrong camp could mean losing a scholarship opportunity. Greg was one of lucky elite athletes in the country who got to choose between sports and major universities, but for the other 99% the options aren’t as plentiful. That’s exactly why many athletes choose to join the NCSA team and simplify the recruiting process.
