George (Martin) Paulsen '18 Recruiting Profile

I am seeking a high quality 4-year college education, first and foremost, but would also love to play college basketball as well. I am a motivated student with good grades (3.65 GPA) at a strong high school (Hanover High) where I have challenged myself by taking honors courses in many of my subjects ranging from math to humanties. My SAT is currently 1300, a score which I'm pretty sure (hope) I can improve if I take it again. My work ethic, dedication and ability to prioritize my time to meet the short and longer term goals and aspirations I have set for myself extends to the basketball court.

I have been playing organized basketball since the 6th grade and on traveling AAU teams since then. In Junior High, I was the only 7th grader to make the 8th grade A team, and while I didn't start, I was first off the bench and played near "starter" minutes as the back-up point guard and a shooting guard. In high school, I was the first freshman to make varsity in many years. I played limited minutes that year but was able to transition to the speed and physicality of the varsity game. I was a perfect 10 for 10  from the foul line, a stat that I'm proud of and set a record for free-throw shooting percentage that had never been achieved previously (I lucked out because the minimum free throws for the record was 10!). In my sophomore year, I played a lot more. I was projected to start, and did in preseason scrimmages, but suffered a groin injury in practice right before our first game which kept me out for about six weeks and I missed our first 6 conference games and a holiday tournament. The set-back was frustrating because I felt well but the groin injury was hard to heal to the point where I could push-off and jump without feeling any pain. I kept my head up, went to every practice to do physical therapy, stationary bike riding, shooting and stationary dribbling drills to stay as ready as I could once cleared to play. I had a good season but the injury and lost time did set me back. I didn't return to the starting line-up but contributed off the bench as a 3-point shooter, and back-up point guard averaging about 5 points and 2 assists per game. I led the team in scoring in two games hitting 5 threes each time to lead us to some of our best wins of the year. In my most recent junior year, I was the only player to start and score in every game, a sign of consistency and maturity of which I am particularly proud. My role on the team transitioned again because of injury, this time not mine, but to one of our seniors who tore an ACL and was out for the year. As a result, I was called on to be our defensive stopper (I was defensive player of the year), and played more of an inside game both defensively and offensively even though I'm not that tall. I picked up some of the rebounding slack (averaging almost 4 boards per game), and I also developed my driving game. I led the team in free throw attempts and makes (hitting 75%; I was 23 of 25 for a stretch during the meat of our conference schedule. I missed a bunch, way more than I should, at the start of the season which dropped my overall percentage). My scoring was solid (8/game), and I had a season high 21 points and scored in double digits in 7 games. I expected to be a double digit scorer in every game, but I took fewer outside shots and 3s in part because we had a couple of pretty good shooters but no other drivers, so I developed and exploited this part of my game during the season more than in the past, and either got to the rim or kicked to shooters rather than being on the receiving end and taking a lot of 3s this past year (my season high was making  3 3s in a game which I did several times. But, I don't think I even took 5, much less make 5, 3s in a single game like I did as a sophomore). In my upcoming senior season,  I'm looking to put the last two years together by continuing to get to the rim but also taking (and making!) a lot more outside shots and 3s.

In sum, I'm a versatile player with a solid all around game offensively and defensively. My ball handling is point-guard level, I am also pretty quick and can get to the rim using my right or left hand and convert at the free throw line when fouled. I'm also a pretty good shooter and am capable of draining 3s with good range. My skill package includes an effective pull-up, step-back mid-range game. I'm a smart, unselfish player on both sides of the ball (my coaches say I'm too unselfish at times). I try to make the best basketball play every time. My head is up and eyes see the floor pretty well. I am very coachable and will take on any role or coach's challenge to help the team. I'm vocal on the defensive end, am a decent on-ball defender but am an especially smart, help defender and am often directing traffic on the defensive side especially in transition. I believe I would contribute to a college basketball team in many ways both on and off the court, and I look forward to the opportunity to play. 

The links below are to my senior night game in 2018. I was also YCN player of the week.

https://ycnnow.com/2018/03/05/ycn-game-of-the-week-john-stark-vs-hanover-boys-basketball-3-2-18/

https://ycnnow.com/2018/03/08/ycn-player-of-the-week-martin-paulsen-hanover-boys-basketball/