Even in his days as a two-sports superstar at Christian Brothers Academy, Greg Paulus talked about a professional future that included a head coaching job.
Now, Paulus is in charge of a Division I college basketball program – but in unlikely circumstances.
Patrick Beilein announced Thursday that he was stepping down as the head coach at Niagara University, less than six months after taking the job following a successful stint at Le Moyne College.
As a result, Paulus, hired as an assistant head coach by Beilein, takes over the Purple Eagles as the interim head coach.
“Personal reasons I can no longer take lightly have led me to step away from my dream job,” said Beilein in a statement. “Going forward, I must give singular focus to dealing with these issues.”
In his statement, Beilein did not specify any health issues, though it was reported that he had undergone back surgery before Niagara’s practices got underway.
Paulus, of course, stood out in football and basketball at CBA, winning a football state Class AA title in 2004 while setting several state passing records. He was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
But it was in basketball that Paulus was recruited to Duke University, where he played for four years before returning to Central New York to hit the gridiron for Syracuse University as a graduate transfer.
Following that, Paulus began his coaching career, spending stints as an assistant at four different Division I programs – Navy, Ohio State, Louisville and George Washington, with the longest a six-year stint at Ohio State from 2011 to 2017.
A big part of the challenge for Paulus is the timing of his promotion. It came barely two weeks before Niagara, who went 13-19 a season ago, is set to open its season Nov. 8 against Drexel. And the schedule includes a trip home for Paulus when the Purple Eagles face SU on Dec. 28.
Paulus is one of many former Duke players that are college head coaches, joining a list that includes Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, Chris Collins, Jeff Capel and Steve Wojciehowski. Another, Quin Snyder, is head coach of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
