It’s Marcus Paige’s turn for recruiting hot seat

He had North Carolina Coach Roy Williams show up at his school early in the morning to watch him work out. Then he got to meet Ashton Kutcher.

All in one week.

Yep, this recruiting stuff is starting to heat up big time for Marcus Paige. The Linn-Mar junior point guard has gotten the attention of some of college basketball's – and Hollywood's – biggest hitters.

“Meeting both of those guys, they are from two completely different worlds,” Paige said. “Seeing a Hollywood star that you've seen in all those movies was really cool. Then, you know, Roy Williams is such a storied coach.”

North Carolina hasn't offered him a scholarship, yet, but Paige said Williams is scheduled to make another visit during Linn-Mar's upcoming season. Kansas has offered him, and he is scheduled to be in Lawrence for the school's version of Midnight Madness.

“I'm the same as I was before July (when the AAU season began),” Paige said. “I think I'm going to narrow it at the end of this season to like six or seven schools.”

Of course, Iowa and Iowa State are in the mix for the 6-foot left-hander as well. It was at a recent Hawkeye football game in Iowa City that Paige got to meet Kutcher, who was in town with his wife, Demi Moore.

That's a pretty good recruiting tool for new Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery.

“We got to go up (into the press box) at halftime and meet him,” Paige said. “He's a really laid back guy. He talked about his days at Iowa, (Cedar Rapids) Washington and Clear Creek-Amana.”

Washington senior Josh Oglesby committed to Iowa last week and said at his press conference he wanted to help keep Iowa kids in state to play for the Hawkeyes. Paige said he heard the message that was certainly directed at guys like him and fellow junior standout Adam Woodbury of Sioux City East.

They are considered top 100 recruits nationally, Paige in the top 40.

“I definitely know where he was coming from,” Paige said. “Iowa has really produced some talented players here in the last couple of years with Josh and Woodbury and (North Carolina's Harrison) Barnes.

“(Oglesby and Woodbury and him are all actually pretty good friends.”

But Paige will pick the school and program that's best for him. There are no leaders right now, he said.

Offers have come from Clemson, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia. Paige's sister, Morgan, is a freshman at Wisconsin.

“The goal initially was not to use my official visits,” he said. “But I don't know. All I know is I'm going to have it done before (his senior) season.”