Iowa players fond of Paige despite lack of success against him

IOWA CITY - Iowa junior guard Mike Gesell once faced Marcus Paige when the two were matched up in high school. Gesell, who played for South South Sioux City, Neb., didn't win.

Iowa senior Josh Oglesby and Cedar Rapids Washington competed annually against Paige and Linn-Mar. Oglesby fell short every time. Iowa junior Jarrod Uthoff dropped a couple games to Paige during his final two years at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. Same thing for Sioux City East's Adam Woodbury - now Iowa's center - in the state tournament.

'My high school never beat Linn-Mar,” Oglesby said Monday. 'I'm O-for against Marcus. So hopefully Wednesday I can change that and go to North Carolina and get a big one.”

Paige, a junior at North Carolina, was Iowa's Mr. Basketball his senior year after an extraordinary career at Linn-Mar. Wednesday, North Carolina (5-1) plays host to Iowa (5-2) as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at Chapel Hill, N.C. Paige now is universally recognized as one of the nation's top players, but his roots lie in Eastern Iowa.

For several years in high school, Paige, Gesell and Iowa junior center Adam Woodbury joined forces as part of the Martin Brothers' AAU team. Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery watched every one of their games for a two-year period and recruited Paige with vigor. But Paige had numerous scholarship offers, and McCaffery was still new to the Iowa scene. Paige picked North Carolina as a junior, 10 months before national signing day.

'Obviously, like you said, I wish we had a little more time maybe to prove that we could get it going here and he could be a major part of that,” McCaffery said. 'It was a little bit of a different situation for him; could he get his arms around that that quickly? I think he was starting to buy in, but at the same time he had Carolina calling, and that was, I think in his mind, an opportunity he couldn't pass up at that time.”

Paige was rated as a national preseason All-American by a number of organizations. He leads the No. 12 Tar Heels with 15.2 points per game.

Gesell, Woodbury and Paige remain close. They often discussed playing together in college. Paige chose Tar Heels, while Woodbury picked the Hawkeyes over North Carolina. Gesell picked the Hawkeyes.

They'll shake hands and share some conversations, as they did before an Iowa game last Christmas break. But both Gesell and Woodbury said they'll ready to compete against Paige as well.

'It's like a competition with your brother,” Gesell said. 'You love each other but once you get in that competition, you hate each other and you're going to do everything you can to beat him. Then after the game, you're going to be best friends again. It's one of those types of competitions.”

If Paige does down the lane and Woodbury is standing in the way ...

'I can't let that happen,” Woodbury said. 'If he comes down the lane, I don't think I'll let him lay it up. I'm not going to try to hurt him, but we're going to make him earn it.”

That's what Iowa's players hope across the board, especially after the way Paige battered everyone during their prep days.

'He got the better of me the last time we played,” Gesell said. 'It'll be fun to get that matchup again.”

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