Marcus Paige: ACC X-Factor

ACC Media Days were a week ago, but as the college basketball season starts to sneak up on us, there were some important things that came out of those meetings. Among was the ACC Preseason Poll, which picked Duke first, North Carolina second, and newcomer Louisville third. Then there was the preseason All-Conference team where junior North Carolina guard Marcus Paige was picked as the preseason conference player of the year.

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At first blush, it may not sound right. Paige is the understated point man from Iowa who plays for the Tar Heels. He was recruited to do what Roy Williams point guards normally do, pass to the guy down low, shoot a little bit, and utilize chaos to make a play for yourself. Last year that job description went more or less out the window with the preseason suspensions of PJ Hairston and Leslie McDonald. Paige was asked to become a gunner, since he was the only man with a reliable shot on the team.

Making someone a gunner can be risky, but it seems that decision may have been the best thing for Paige’s game. Paige does not exude brashness, and even now CL Brown of ESPN reports that he is not comfortable with the attention he gets. Paige knows that he can play. He may have known it before, but now he knows that the coaches know it.

This year, Paige is working with mostly the same guys that he worked with last year. There are some new wing freshman guys, but he is still the proven shooter. It is not impossible that he would be the team leader in scoring and assists. Yet, Paige can only carry this team with him so far. The collective talent around him has to show that they have improved.

If so, then Marcus Paige could turn into the Kemba Walker (UConn 2011) of this group. He may never have Kemba’s swagger, but there’s enough to work with on the Tar Heels for Marcus to pull them over the top. The way he is built, he may never even know that he is doing that.