Darius Paul

Darius Paul
Personal information
Born (1994-04-08) April 8, 1994
Gurnee, Illinois
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Warren Township (Gurnee, Illinois)
College Western Michigan (2012–2013)
Lamar State–Port Arthur (2014–2015)
Position Power forward
Career highlights and awards
  • MAC Freshman of the Year (2013)
  • MAC All-Freshman team (2013)

Darius Paul (born April 8, 1994) is an American former college basketball player who most recently played for the Lamar State–Port Arthur Seahawks. He also played college basketball for Western Michigan University and was a member of the University of Illinois basketball team, but never appeared in a game.

High school career

Paul played for Warren Township High School coached by Chuck Ramsey. As a high school senior, Paul was named a member of the 2012 Illinois All-State Team as selected by the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, News-Gazette, and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. Through his college recruitment, Paul received interest from Northwestern and Iowa and received scholarship offers from Bradley University, Detroit, IUPUI, Florida Gulf Coast, and Western Michigan.[1][2] On November 25, 2011, Paul committed to play for Steve Hawkins at Western Michigan.[3]

College career

Freshman

Entering Western Michigan during the 2012–13 season, Paul quickly became a key contributor, as he started 33 of 35 games, averaging 10.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Paul also led all Mid-American Conference freshman in scoring and rebounding, recording five double-doubles throughout the season. He was named Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year at the conclusion of the season.[4]

Redshirt sophomore

After announcing his decision to transfer from Western Michigan, Paul announced via Twitter on May 4, 2013 that he would play for John Groce at Illinois, following in the footsteps of his older brother Brandon Paul. Paul also had scholarship offers to Florida, Iowa State, Marquette, Miami (Fl.), Missouri, Nebraska, and Nevada.[5][6]

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Paul was forced to sit out during the 2013–2014 season. During the season Paul only participated in practices and attended home games at the State Farm Center as an observer.

Junior College

Paul recorded the fifth triple-double in Lamar State College–Port Arthur Seahawks history in a win over Victoria College, posting a line of 21 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.[7] During his junior college season, Paul was also named a top five junior college recruit by the Sporting News.[7] On November 12, 2014, Paul signed his National Letter of Intent to return to Illinois during the 2015–16 season as a redshirt junior.[8] For the 2014–15 season, Paul led the Seahawks in points per game and rebounds per game, averaging a double-double for the majority of the season.[9]

Name Home town High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Darius Paul
PF		 Gurnee, IL Warren Township HS / Western Michigan /
Lamar State College–Port Arthur		 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Nov 12, 2014 
Scout: N/A   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 18 (Junior College)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

College statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Western Michigan[10] 35 33 24.8 .466 .227 .658 5.7 1.7 0.5 0.4 10.5
2013–14 Illinois Did not play due to NCAA transfer regulations
2014–15 Lamar State–Port Arthur[11] 22 20 - .438 .280 .683 9.1 3.8 1.5 2.4 17.1

Updated January 19, 2016

Disciplinary and legal issues

While sitting out the 2013–14 season, Paul was arrested on April 22, 2014 in Champaign, Illinois and charged with resisting a peace officer and unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor.[12] Illinois head coach John Groce subsequently suspended Paul for the entire 2014-15 season on May 14, 2014 and it was revealed that Paul had twice tested positive for marijuana prior to his April 2014 arrest for underage drinking.[13] Paul then spent the next four months going through rehabilitation with former NBA head coach John Lucas II at Lucas' facility in Houston, Texas.[13] Paul was also suspended twice during his time with Lamar State-Port Arthur for undisclosed violations of team rules.[9] After spending the 2014-15 season with Lamar State-Port Arthur, Paul recommitted to Illinois and joined the Fighting Illini during summer 2015 workouts.

While overseas on Illinois' preseason European trip, Paul was arrested in Deauville, France on August 14, 2015 and charged with vandalism, public intoxication and resisting arrest.[14] Head coach John Groce later dismissed Paul from the Illinois basketball team on August 21, 2015.[15]

Personal

Paul is the son of Cliff Sr. and Lynda Paul and he has two brothers, Cliff Jr. and former Fighting Illini basketball player Brandon Paul.

References

  1. ↑ DeCamp, Scott (2013-01-07). "Freshman Darius Paul more 'assassin' than 'Bambi' for Western Michigan basketball team". mlive.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  2. ↑ Walsh, Cavan (2011-06-29). "Class Of 2012 Warren Township Star Darius Paul Continues To Hone His Skills, And Is Ready For The July Evaluation Period". ChicagoHoops.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  3. ↑ Powers, Scott (2011-11-25). "Paul, Harris commit to WMU". ESPN. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  4. ↑ DeCamp, Scott (2013-04-23). "Darius Paul's transfer means Western Michigan basketball losing Freshman of Year, 'really good friend'". MLive.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  5. ↑ Powers, Scott (2013-05-07). "Darius Paul headed to Illinois". ESPN. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  6. ↑ Doyle, Kevin (2013-05-05). "Darius Paul will transfer to Illinois". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, Kendrick E. (December 4, 2014). "LSC-PA's Darius Paul is laying the ground work to a bright future". The Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  8. ↑ "LSC-PA Seahawk Paul intends to play for Illini". The Beaumont Enterprise. November 12, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  9. 1 2 Johnson, Kendrick E. (March 3, 2015). "LSC-PA ready to push past the setbacks". The Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  10. ↑ "Darius Paul Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  11. ↑ "NJCAA". stats.njcaa.org. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  12. ↑ Estes, Brian (2014-05-13). "Illinois suspends Darius Paul, brother of Brandon, for entire 2014-15 season". Sporting News. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  13. 1 2 Jackson, Marcus (August 23, 2014). "Darius Paul is back on track". News Gazette. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  14. ↑ "Illinois F Darius Paul suspended after arrest on team trip in France". Sports Illustrated. August 16, 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  15. ↑ "Illinois forward Darius Paul dismissed after arrest in France". ESPN. August 21, 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-19.

External links

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