Despite early injury, UNC’s Paige looks for big senior season

CEDAR FALLS — He honestly thought he'd be playing Saturday afternoon. That always was the goal for Marcus Paige.

North Carolina put a road game at Northern Iowa on its basketball schedule to salute the senior point guard from Linn-Mar. It's Tar Heels tradition.

A broken right, non-shooting hand suffered in preseason practice in early November wasn't going to keep Paige from returning to the state and showing everyone why he's a preseason all-American. A trip to the doctor Thursday in Chapel Hill, however, rained on his parade.

Or snowed on it, if you will. Paige said his hand is healing, but it'll probably be another week before he is allowed to play.

That means he'll miss his top-ranked team's next three games, including Saturday. Quite a downer.

'It was up and down for me. When it first happened, I didn't think I had any chance to play in this game,' Paige said Friday afternoon, as he and UNC prepared for practice. 'But as I felt better and started doing more stuff, getting my conditioning in and everything, I thought I had a chance. Our last game (earlier in the week), I was shooting around in warmups and stuff, just to see how it felt. And I felt great ... So, yesterday, I was really bummed out. But I'm just happy to be home for a little bit.'

Paige said he secured tickets for about 30 family members and friends, though they'll have to settle for cheering on his teammates instead. North Carolina has games Monday and Tuesday in a tournament at Kansas City, then hosts Maryland, Dec. 1, in the ACC-Big Ten Shootout.

It's now that game he's targeting for his season debut.

'I'm extremely disappointed I can't play,' he said. 'I really thought I was going to come back ... But I hadn't done any contact stuff. They just told me it was starting to heal and form back together, but I needed about another week until they were confident in putting me out there without putting me in jeopardy.'

'We said three to four weeks, and I think the doctors were right on,' said North Carolina Coach Roy Williams. 'I told (Marcus) that had they released him, I still wouldn't have let him play. It's a long season. You get released on Friday, you shouldn't expect to play on Saturday.'

Paige was hobbled last season with plantar fascitis and an ankle injury, though he still averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. He came into this season healthy and looking better than he ever had.

Williams said so.

'He was playing better in the preseason than he had and probably better than any perimeter player I've had,' the coach said. 'He was really shooting the ball well, doing a great job defensively, taking care of the ball. He was just being Marcus Paige, playing every part of the game.'

'I was just healthy and I really didn't have any restrictions,' Paige said. 'You'd see me playing all last year hobbling around the court and just not fully being myself ... I've been shooting the ball pretty well, and I felt very confident going into the season.'

He still feels confident his final season of college basketball will be special, both individually and for his team.

'I've dealt with the adversity of high expectations, preseason all-American, all that stuff last year,' Paige said. 'So this year I was a lot more comfortable being in the spotlight, being labeled as one of those guys. To get hurt, it changes a little bit. But I've been ready to go, and I still am.'

He was asked about his four years with one of college basketball's blue-blood programs, and if anything surprised him.

'Oh, there have been a lot of surprises,' he said. 'But it has been more than I ever wanted it to be. From an education standpoint, to basketball, to Coach Williams, to maturing. Thinking about an 18-year-old me going far away from home to now, I have grown in all aspects of my life. I am comfortable and confident that I can go out into the world and be successful no matter what I do, with the background that I got these last four years.

'I wouldn't change any of it. Any of the injuries, any of the adversity, the academic scandal stuff that we've had to deal with. That teaches you how to grow up and face things. I've loved it at North Carolina.'

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