Greg Paulus was born in Medina, Ohio, and grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, before moving to the Syracuse suburb of Manlius, New York. He has six siblings: David, Matt, Dan, Chris, Mike and Sarah. He was named Gatorade Athlete of the Year due to his accomplishments in football and basketball. Paulus was the quarterback of the 2004 Christian Brothers Academy football team, which won the New York State Championship by defeating New Rochelle High School and future NFL player Ray Rice 41–35 in the title game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Paulus was also named New York State Mr. Basketball following his senior season at CBA. He was ranked as the number one recruit out of high school.
Paulus was a member of the Duke team that finished with a 32–4 record and won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular-season and tournament championship. Paulus led the ACC in assists per game at 5.2. He set a Duke freshman record for assists in a game with 15 (with three turnovers) in a 104–77 home victory over Valparaiso on December 18, 2005; that assist total was only one away from the all-time single-game Duke record of 16, set by NCAA career assist leader Bobby Hurley. He was selected for the All-America freshman 2nd team.
His 187 assists ranked third behind Bobby Hurley (288 in 1990) and Jay Williams (220 in 2000) among the freshman assist leaders in Duke history.[3]
Paulus injured his foot during the preseason. After the season, associate coach Chris Collins said Paulus struggled because he had a tarsal coalition, and it was corrected through surgery; he has since fully recovered. He had a career high with 25 points against Virginia Commonwealth on March 15, 2007.
Paulus led Duke to a 28–6 record including an 89–78 victory over rival UNC in which Paulus led Duke in scoring with 18 points. He led the Atlantic Coast Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio during the 2007–08 season and shot over 42 percent from beyond the arc on his way to making 82 three-point field goals.
Senior
After being the starting point guard for three years, Paulus started only five games during his senior season. Paulus averaged 16 minutes a game, in part due to the development of sophomore guard Nolan Smith.[5]
He won four games and lost eight during his lone season at Syracuse, completing 67.7 percent of his passes and throwing for 2,025 yards and 13 touchdowns, and threw a school- and Big East-record five interceptions in one game against South Florida.[7]
Professional career
Paulus tried out with the NFL's New Orleans Saints in May 2010. Contrary to initial reports, he was not offered a contract.[8] He got another shot with the Saints in June 2010 when he was again invited to minicamp.
Coaching career
Paulus was hired as an assistant basketball coach at Navy in August 2010.[9]
Paulus was hired as the basketball video coordinator for Ohio State University in May 2011.[10] Paulus was promoted to assistant coach for Ohio State University in the summer of 2013.[11]
In the fall of 2017, Paulus left Ohio State and was hired to be an assistant coach for the Louisville Cardinals under interim head coach David Padgett.[12] Paulus was not retained for assistant under new Louisville head coach Chris Mack following the end of the season.
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion