Marcus Paige ready for big finale

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was a Friday night in mid-November when the University of North Carolina men's basketball team began its season at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, part of a special four-team, one-day event.

Before the game against Temple, Marcus Paige stood near the UNC bench in street clothes, handling a basketball gingerly during warmups with his broken right hand.

Nearly four months later the Tar Heels returned to the capital region to play Thursday afternoon at the Verizon Center in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament as the top seed. And this time the Marion native and Linn-Mar graduate was not a frustrated bystander.

The left-handed shooting senior was honored at center court before the game for the second year in a row with the Skip Prosser Award, given to the top scholar-athlete for men's basketball in the ACC. He then played a team-high 34 minutes and scored eight points with three assists in an 88-71 win over Pittsburgh.

'It means a lot. It is something I will look back and appreciate more when I graduate,' Paige, sitting at his locker after the game, said of the award. 'I have always been held to a really high standard to excel in school by my parents.'

UNC, ranked No. 7 in the nation, will now face Notre Dame on Friday night in the semifinals.

'We're going to allow the guys to enjoy this for three or four hours,' UNC Coach Roy Williams said. 'After the (Duke-Notre Dame) game is over tonight, we'll get together and do our preparation for the team we're getting ready to play.'

This has been an up and down season for Paige, who scored a season-high 30 points at Florida State on Jan. 4 then endured a rugged four-game stretch when he was 5 of 35 from the field, including 1 of 22 from 3-point range, while scoring just 15 points.

'I didn't want to break my hand (during practice Nov. 3). Now I am a senior and it is slowly coming to an end,' Paige said. 'The more we play the more I get to play. We understand this is our chance to build momentum for the rest of March.'

As of Thursday DraftExpress, one of the top draft sites, projected Paige to go 56th overall in the NBA draft in June. Only 60 picks are made, so Paige has little margin for error, though if he is not selected he could always sign with an NBA team as a non-drafted free agent.

'I could have left (school) after my sophomore year when I was projected to go higher,' Paige said.

Last season he averaged 14.1 points per contest while shooting 41 percent from the field, including 40 percent from 3-point range. This year he is shooting 39 percent from the field and 33 from long range while scoring 11.9 points per game. As a sophomore he averaged 17.5 points and shot 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.

'I am not worried about that at all,' he said. 'I care about how the team can advance. I have always believed if you are good enough to play you (as a pro) you will find a way.'

Paige noted if he scores just eight points per game the rest of the season and UNC wins a national title, no one will care or remember.

'The only thing I can do is play my best and help the team win,' he said. 'When that (NBA) road comes I will take care of that. I am still confident in all of the abilities that I have.'

THE MARCUS PAIGE FILE

Hometown: Marion

High school: Linn-Mar

College: North Carolina

Year/position: Senior/guard

Uniform: 5

Next game: Friday in the ACC semifinals against either Duke or Notre Dame

Last game: Had 8 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds in team-high 34 minutes as a starter on Thursday in 88-71 win over Pittsburgh in the ACC tourney quarterfinals

Did you know? Paige was honored on the court before Thursday afternoon's game at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. with the Skip Prosser Award, which is presented to the ACC's top scholar-athlete for men's basketball. It was the second year in a row that Paige won the award. The late Prosser coached at Wake Forest … Paige is double majoring in media and journalism/history and is just the third ACC player to be a three-time academic All-American … As of Thursday morning DraftExpress, one of the top draft sites, projected Paige to go 56th overall in the NBA draft in June … Paige missed the first six games of this season with a broken right (non-shooting) hand … UNC, the No. 1 team in preseason, will learn Sunday where and when it will play in the NCAA tourney.

David Driver has covered college basketball in the Washington area for nearly 25 years and can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com