Gregory Russell Paulus was born on July 3, 1986, in Medina, Ohio. He grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, before his family moved to the Syracuse suburb of Manlius, New York. He was one of seven children — six brothers and a sister: David, Matt, Dan, Chris, Mike, and Sarah. The Paulus household was a factory of athletes, and Greg was the most gifted of them all.
At Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, Paulus became something that shouldn’t be possible: the best high school quarterback AND the best high school point guard in New York State simultaneously, and arguably in the entire country. On the football field, he broke New York state records for career passing touchdowns (152) and career passing yards (11,760), and set the single-season yardage record with 3,677. He was named Sports Illustrated’s best quarterback in the nation. He was a U.S. Army All-American, a Parade All-American, and a USA Today second-team All-American — all in football. In the 2004 New York State Class AA Championship game, Paulus led CBA to the school’s first-ever state football title, defeating New Rochelle High School and future NFL running back Ray Rice 41–35 in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. He was named MVP of the championship game.
On the basketball court, he accumulated 2,399 career points — twelfth in New York state history — and averaged 26.8 points, 8.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.4 steals as a senior. He was a five-time all-league selection, four-time all-state, New York State Mr. Basketball, a McDonald’s All-American, a Parade All-American, and the top-ranked point guard in the country by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. At the Nike Hoop Summit, he set a record with 10 assists.
He was named Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year in 2004 and then Gatorade National High School Male Athlete of the Year in 2005 — covering all sports. He received football scholarship offers from Miami and Notre Dame. He received basketball offers from Duke, Syracuse, Georgetown, Florida, North Carolina, and Xavier. He had to choose between being the nation’s best quarterback and the nation’s best point guard. In his first week as a high school junior, Greg Paulus announced he would attend Duke to play basketball. First and foremost, his father David said, Greg has a passion for basketball, and he’d love to be involved in helping Coach Krzyzewski and his team compete for a national championship.