A consiglieri lays out Greg Paulus' options

April 17, 9:49 AMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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Too many career options can be frustrating.

In the last three days, Greg Paulus has gone from a disappointing Duke point guard to an NFL prospect, and finally, to the starting quarterback at Michigan. Not since Dylan went electric - or maybe it was Eli Manning winning a Super Bowl - has there been such a drastic change in a young man's professional trajectory.

All of a sudden, Paulus has a seemingly infinite amount of options. And, as any young man faced with so many choices, Paulus will obviously need some good advice. So let's pretend to be Paulus' consiglieri and lay out the former point guard's professional options.

Option #1, Go pro - Paulus worked out for the Green Bay Packers so obviously there is at least a little interest from the NFL. Why not take a chance and enter the NFL Draft? Sure, you haven't thrown a football since high school, but maybe a team will pick you up late in one of the later rounds. After all, 11,763 passing yards and 152 touchdowns at Christian Brothers Academy has to at least be worth a seventh round pick, right?

Option #2, Play quarterback for Michigan - Greg, buddy, you don't need a consiglieri to tell you that this is easily the best option. You would be the first dude to ever go from point guard at Duke to quarterback at Michigan. The Wolverines don't have a legitimate starting quarterback and Rich Rodriguez is crazy/desperate enough to believe in you, which is something that Coach K never did. He's even offering you a scholarship! Of course, there is this whole issue with the NCAA waiver, but you're a well-spoken young man without any tattoos, so I'm sure the NCAA will treat you favorably... Worse case scenario is that you end up on the sidelines, but you're used to that.

Option #3, Play wide receiver for Duke - Admittedly, this is the least attractive option so far. Who does this David Cutcliffe guy think he is? You are good enough to be considered for the starting quarterback role at Michigan, but not at lowly Duke? That just doesn't make sense. Of course, you could take Cutcliffe up on his wide receiver challenge just to prove the rat bastard wrong, but then you would be on the Duke football team and you always used to make fun of those guys when you played basketball.

Option #4, Assistant basketball coach - Yes, right now, everyone is talking about your football skills, and it is fun to play make believe and ponder what-ifs. But when it finally comes time to perform, is your undersized frame really going to allow you to excel as a college/professional quarterback? Probably not. So let's be realistic and consider the safest route. You could be the next Steve Wojciechowski. And look how great Wojo has turned out to be. You could sit next to Coach K on the bench and massage his shoulders when he gets tense. It worked for Tommy Amaker. Now he has got that dream job...at Harvard...

Option #5, Personal trainer for your brother - Let's be honest, Greg. North Carolina fans liked you as a dunking dummy more than Duke fans enjoyed you as a point guard. You could head on over to Chapel Hill and make sure that your brother is living up to his potential as a quarterback for the Tar Heels. Mixing protein shakes and cooking egg white omlettes isn't that bad. Plus, the girls at UNC are physically capable than those at Duke.

Option #6, Dick Vitale's assistant - Nobody ever rode the Paulus train as long or as hard as ol' Dicky V, so why not give back to your biggest fan? While you were never quick enough to play the sport, you obviously understand basketball and you'd be great in the booth.

As Black Sheep famously said, "The choice is yours."