Warren's Paul sets Illini future in motion

Brandon Paul, who will be a senior at Warren in the fall, sees a good fit for his game at Illinois.
(Michael Schmidt/News-Sun)

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Brandon Paul won't be playing basketball at Illinois until the 2009-10 season but the 6-3 guard from Warren observed enough Illini games last season to get a feel for how he will fit in.

''I fit into a three-guard offense. I can be a good scorer in that offense," he said. ''What they need is a go-to guy who can score when they need it, a perimeter shooter who can hit lights out, someone who the opponent fears. They didn't have that last year."

Illinois coach Bruce Weber prefers a three-guard, motion offense and he desperately wants to see his program return to the Deron Williams/Dee Brown/Luther Head skill level that propelled the Illini to the NCAA championship game in 2005.

Paul has what it takes. In fact, former Chicago Bulls player Dickie Simpkins, Paul's offseason coach who generally is credited with the youngster's sudden rise to national prominence, predicts he will be a McDonald's All-American, one of the nation's top 25 players.

''Potentially, he can play professionally," said Simpkins, who played in the NBA and in Europe for 12 years. ''People get excited about him because he has a complete package and so much upside for the future. He plays with gifts and abilities where he can change a game."

Paul began his rapid climb up the talent chart in the eyes of recruiting analysts, college coaches and other evaluators a year ago after a workout at Simpkins' Next Level Performance, Inc., a basketball skills development company in Lincolnshire.

''I left a note for his father," Simpkins recalled. ''I asked Brandon: 'Do you want to be good or do you want to be known beyond Illinois?' He said he wanted to be known beyond Illinois. We gave him national recognition. We showed him how to use his abilities on a national level."

Paul said it was when he first started to play with NLP, when he was 15 playing up against 17 and 18-year-olds, that he began to realize his potential. ''I was dominating a lot. I thought I could be a great player," he said.

''I thought my talent was being bottled up [in high school]. At NLP, I got more confidence and found different ways to score other than just driving in the lane.

''When I was 14 and 15, I got lazy sometimes and didn't work as hard as I could have. I didn't take advantage of the time I had to work on my game. That all changed last year. I don't want to shortchange myself."

Paul didn't get much exposure as a sophomore, largely because Warren coach Chuck Ramsey had a team of talented, savvy and veteran players who won 26 of 30 games. Paul was promoted to the varsity midway in the season because he wasn't being challenged on the sophomore level.

''He had to work his way up," Ramsey said. ''Since his sophomore season ended, he has done a lot of work to make himself stronger, to improve his shooting and driving ability and to mature physically.

''He is a very serious basketball player who has taken giant steps within a year or so to become a player who can do some things that are pretty unique."

Ramsey, regarded among the top 10 high school coaches in Illinois, said Paul is ''by far the most recruited and highest recruited player I have had in 15 years. He has a tremendous upside as far as how good he could be."

Best of all, by most accounts, Paul has handled his newfound notoriety and media hype as easily as he negotiated the recruiting process.

He made his commitment last October, choosing Illinois over USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Purdue.

''Ever since eighth grade, I wanted to go there, since they went to the NCAA championship game," Paul said. ''I feel my class [including guards D.J Richardson of Peoria Central and Joseph Bertrand of Sterling] can go far."

Ramsey believes Paul is a perfect fit for Illinois, which his brother Cliff attends. He should mesh well with Weber's three-guard, motion offense and pressure man-to-man defense, which he is familiar with at Warren.

''He is a team player, a good citizen, a solid kid, a happy kid -- and he has good direction at home," Ramsey said.

''One thing you can't over-evaluate in the recruiting process is if the college really wants you -- and Illinois wants him."

If there were any questions about Paul's ability to play at the next level, they were silenced last December when Warren beat Oak Park 67-65 in double overtime in the Pontiac tournament quarterfinals.

Matched against Iman Shumpert, a McDonald's All-American, Paul scored 36 points and had nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Shumpert had 34 points. It was a highlight film.

''You don't see that very often, two high profile players going head-to-head," Ramsey said. ''I can't recall all the big shots they made. It was a breakout game for Brandon. We had seen him play like that in stretches in other games but this was at Pontiac against an outstanding player. It was a very memorable performance."

It was all part of Paul's new ''don't shortchange yourself" attitude.

''If I want to be known beyond Illinois, I have to bring it every game because there will be people who are just as good or better than me,'' he said. ''I haven't seen anyone better than me that I am playing against. But no matter how good you are, you have to play hard all the time."

Paul is one of 100 elite players invited to participate in the prestigious NBA Players Association camp next month at Radford, Va. He also hopes to earn invitations to Nike, Adidas, LeBron James and Paul Pierce camps. Finally, he hopes to land a spot in April's McDonald's All-America Game.

''Brandon is the ideal college prospect that you want to be able to recruit," Simpkins summed up. ''He goes to class, has a great attitude for learning, is focused and is a good kid off the court. And the fact he is a great talent is icing on the cake. He will be a great addition to Illinois."