Hoops-la in Durham

Though the basketballers in Carolina blue won the 2009 NCAA crown, it appears their royal blue foes are getting all the off-season attention.

A few weeks ago, the big news was that Stephen Curry’s little brother, Seth, was transferring from Liberty to Duke. The younger Curry averaged 20.3 points per game for the Flames, pacing freshman throughout the country.

But somehow creating more intrigue, graduating Duke point guard Greg Paulus is examining his future, in football. After starting in his first three years for the Blue Devils, the senior saw more action as a role player this season.  The Blue Devils, a No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, fell in the Sweet 16 to eventual Final Four contender, No. 3 Villanova.

Prior to his Duke career, Paulus was heavily recruited to play both college basketball and football.  As the four-year starting quarterback for Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, N.Y., Paulus led his team to a 42-3 record and a state title.  He also passed for 11,763 yards and 152 touchdowns — no small feat for any athlete, let alone one that can start for 3.5 years for Duke’s not-too-shabby hoops squad.

Paulus’ name splashed all over the media outlets a few weeks ago, when he worked out with the Green Bay Packers and followed it up with a trip to Ann Arbor to discuss his possible future with Coach Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines.  He even was interviewed on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption in a segment called “Five Good Minutes”:

After all the initial excitement, Paulus is no longer in the headlines, but still appears to be shopping around for a college football opportunity.  Where has he expressed interest in playing lately?  Nebraska and his hometown Syracuse.

A source says he’s 95 percent sure Paulus will join the Orange’s roster for next season.  If that’s the case, Paulus would enroll in a master’s program in communications at Syracuse’s highly touted S.I. Newhouse School of Communications while competing for the Orange.  When he toured Nebraska’s campus in Lincoln last week, Paulus looked at the broadcast journalism master’s program there as well.  (For the record, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s communications programs aren’t too shabby either.)

So how will Paulus suit up in the coming months?  In maize and blue?  As a Cornhusker?  Will he bask again in hometown glory, this time in orange?  Or will he continue his basketball career overseas?  And perhaps more importantly, when will we know?

The double-sport threat will receive his bachelor’s in political science from Duke on May 10.  His high school coach, Joe Casamento, believes Paulus will finalize his decision within the next two weeks.

‘Til then, let the speculation continue!