Within two weeks, Xavier coaches will know if they've successfully completed a recruiting coup to land one of the most sought-after 2005 point guards.

Competing with tradition-rich Duke, Notre Dame, Syracuse and North Carolina, Xavier is hanging strong in the race to acquire 6-foot-2 Greg Paulus from Manlius, N.Y., who will make his college decision in the next two weeks.

Hoopscooponline.com ranks the Christian Brothers Academy star the third-best point guard in the 2005 class. But he's also a top-rated quarterback and is hearing from such schools as Florida State, Miami (Fla.) and Stanford.

"He's contemplating football, but he's not prepared to jeopardize playing point guard," said Paulus' father, Dave. "I think basketball is the way he's going to end up going."

And it's not such a far-off notion that Paulus could end up at Xavier, where he visited a year ago. The Paulus family is familiar with XU's success over the years.They are Ohio natives and nearly have moved to Cincinnati twice.

"For whatever reason it didn't work out," Dave Paulus said. "But we've always had a strong affinity to the Cincinnati area."

Three of Paulus' older brothers have gone on to play football for Georgetown University, and the oldest, David, also was a walk-on for the Georgetown basketball team.

Greg Paulus appears to be the best college prospect yet in the family. He broke onto the national scene with a standout performance at the 2002 Nike camp and has been recruited by major schools ever since. Paulus regularly plays pickup games with Syracuse players who live nearby. Last season as a sophomore, he averaged 24.5 points and 6.5 assists at CBA.

Paulus will make his collegiate decision based on where he knows he will be able to step in right away at point guard.

"He wants a system where he can contribute and where he has a good relationship with the coaches," Dave Paulus said. "He has a very outstanding relationship with Thad Matta."

Paulus would be Xavier's first verbal commitment from the 2005 class. The Musketeers have one verbal commitment for 2004 from Stanley Burrell, who will play this season at Hargrave Military Academy (Va.). Burrell was considered somewhat of a steal for Xavier when he committed in May and then performed well during the summer camp circuit.

GOING INTERNATIONAL: Xavier trainer David Fluker recently returned from a stint at the Pan American Games, where he cared for judo athletes. Fluker was selected after he interned at the U.S. Olympic training site in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2000. Based on his work in the Pan Am Games, Fluker could work the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

SAD ENDING: The St. Bonaventure saga took its worst turn yet this week when school board chairman William Swan was found dead in an apparent suicide, according to published reports. Swan, a 1969 SBU graduate, reportedly had been upset about recent events involving the men's basketball team that forced him, along with the school board, to ask for the resignation of school president Robert Wickenheiser. athletic director Gothard Lane later resigned, and coach Jan van Breda Kolff was fired.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

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