Paulus coaching an AAU team

Greg Paulus may not have been selected as a coach for the Mount, but he's finding work with an AAU team. Gary Parrish, who is covering the LeBron James Skills Academy for CBS Sports, offered this Tweet at 10:47 a.m.:

GaryParrishCBS http://tweetphoto.com/31480552 That's Greg Paulus coaching his ass off. In all seriousness, some college will be smart to hire him soon.


This is in no way a shot at Robert Burke's staff selections for the Mount. I support all of the new coaches and am excited to see them at work. This is just an update on Paulus since we were teased with the possibility of having him on staff for some time.

Speculation on Burke's staff / Burrell semi-update / Mount marriages

As far as I can tell, Mount basketball head coach Robert Burke is close to officially naming the rest of his staff. What we already  know is that Matt Henry, the former director of basketball operations at Georgetown, is on staff and has already been at work in the office. We also know that Sam Atupem is on staff in some form for the time being. On the camp brochures littered around the ARCC earlier this month, Atupem was listed as the contact person for sign-ups.


That leaves two positions remaining, which may have already been filled. It is possible that Burke already has his men and just has not taken the time to announce them, but allow me to speculate anyway.


There are two important items to consider and both point to June 1 as an important date. June 1, for one, is the date at which all of the staff from the Milan Brown era will no longer be on payroll at the Mount. Despite being formally announced as assistants as Holy Cross, not everyone from Brown's staff - Brion Dunlap, Kevin Robinson Jr. and Dan Engelstad - are off the books in Emmitsburg yet.


The second important tie to June 1, and one that has been mentioned here before, is the fact that it is the date when summer classes begin for undergraduate classes at Mount St. Mary's, and the date that Burke stated in his introductory press conference that he hoped to have named at least some of his staff to begin getting acclimated with the players. With Henry and Atupem already in place, he may have satisfied that goal in his mind and be in no rush to fill the final two positions. But I would still think that Burke is taking a "sooner the better" approach and will name his assistants very soon.


As recently as last week interviews were still being conducted to fill the final two spots. Additionally, some of the candidates, if not all, had been given game film from past Mount St. Mary's games and asked to scout both the Mount and the opponent for that game, then to send the scout back to Burke.


Now comes perhaps the most interesting information regarding the salary of these assistants. I will preface this information by saying that we do not know which two positions the remaining candidates are competing for (i.e. first assistant, second assistant, third assistant) because those positions may no longer exist at the Mount. What I mean is that the assistants may not be tiered - the three assistants under Burke could all be on the same level salary-wise.


There was either a clause in Burke's contract or a bit of finagling in the aftermath that granted him a pool of money - rumored to be a sum of $145,000 - $160,000 - that he will be allowed to split up as he chooses - in this case evenly - among his staff. The benefit I see to this is that he can offer three positions with respectable pay and have a relatively deeper staff as opposed to going strong for a proven first assistant, recruiting an up-and-comer for second and hoping to get lucky with a third (you know, in case a recent Duke point guard applies. Or something like that.)


Last I heard, which was before the holiday weekend, there were at least four candidates still fighting for the final two spots. Greg Paulus, of course, was still in the running. So was Duane Simpkins, an early-1990s player at Maryland and now three years into his head coaching job at St. Alban's High School in Washington D.C. A third nominee is Ahmad Dorsett, who is an assistant at Bowie State. And the final candidate of which I have knowledge is Harold Juluke, an assistant at Tulane.


Obviously I'm rooting for Paulus, but I don't know much about the remaining three candidates other than what I can find on the Internet. The only person who has been personally vouched for to me is Dorsett. I like the thoroughness that the process is undergoing and expect to see an announcement in the near future. If I hear anything I'll be sure to post it here.


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I'm even less confident in our ability to retain Justin Burrell than I was before. In addition to the hear-say that has been passed along, there is this:


Burrell was granted a partial release from the Mount weeks ago. Essentially this means that he can re-open his recruiting under the standard rules for every other school in the nation, except for the Mount. Because of the partial, and not full, release, Burke and his staff can still contact Burrell as much as they want as if he is still signed with the team, but he's not.


Considering the Mount has full access to the one-time top-priority recruit turned prized-signee turned more-urgent-than-ever-top-priority-recruit and he still hasn't re-committed to the Mount is troubling. If he isn't announced to be back with the Mount soon (as in two weeks ago) I would expect a school in a conference that is a level above the NEC's tier (AKA the bottom tier) to scoop him up with a late scholarship opening. And if he does not get any offers he likes in the near future he could just as easily enroll in prep school and potentially boost his stock even higher next year.


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Congrats to two Mount alumni on their recent marriages. Former Mount basketball player and current William & Mary assistant Jamion Christian was recently married in Hawaii while former Mount golfer turned head coach of the same team, Kevin Farrell, was married on campus Saturday and is spending his honeymoon in Puerto Rico this week.

BREAKING: Paulus seen on campus for interview

Greg Paulus is in fact interested in coaching at Mount St. Mary's. So much so that he was seen interviewing with coach Robert Burke on campus Thursday.


As Burke has filled his first and second coaching posts and the third vacant with the possibility of adding an additional position, Paulus is likely pursuing the third assistant position as that is the only traditional coaching position still open.


Expect to see Burke use his Georgetown ties to fill one of the top two slots on his staff.


As for Paulus, the former Duke point guard would be a great addition to the Mount staff. Although it is somewhat perplexing that Paulus would pursue a job that carries a salary likely less than $30,000 - and probably closer to $20,000 - instead of making at least three times that much overseas, it would be the Mount's good fortune.


As I mentioned in the post speculating that Paulus may still be interested in coaching at the Mount, he would bring great recognition to the program. It is unlikely that he would stay around for more than two seasons, and possibly one, but Burke and the school should do everything it can to exploit his name if he is hired - and there is no reason to believe that he will not be.


He surely would be a great recruiter with a keen recognition of skilled, intelligent basketball players. Additionally, he would replace former third assistant Dan Engelstad as the youngest assistant who can most easily relate to the players as he is fresh out of his playing days. (Sam Atupem would fill that role as well if he is hired on Burke's staff in some form.)


Rest assured that the Mount would be nothing but a stepping stone for Paulus (as well as for Burke and the rest of his staff at some point), but while he is likely ours, we must make the most of it. Since all but one member of Burke's staff is in place, look for an official announcement within the next week, if not by the end of the month, on just whom he has hired. As a diehard Maryland fan during my childhood it pains me to say this, but I will be more than happy to see Paulus on the sidelines in Knott Arena.

Christian not in running as assistant, but is Greg Paulus?

A good Christian, but not for the Mount - yet


As coach  Robert Burke looks to fill his vacant assistant positions, we know one man who will not be on staff - Jamion Christian.


The class of 2004 Mount graduate says that while he would love the chance to return to Emmitsburg some day, he would only do so as head coach and is not interested in applying for the position of first assistant.


"I wouldn’t go for the first assistant job, no disrespect to coach Burke, but my goal is to be a head coach at Mount St. Mary’s one day or be a head coach at some level at some place," Christian said via telephone during the weekend.


The 28-year-old second assistant at the College of William & Mary described his interview process with the Mount as very positive, but does not see any scenario in which he would be on coach Burke's staff.


"Honestly I think coach Burke will do a great job, I truly believe that. But I think we’ve got something truly special going on here that I’d really only leave to be a head coach somewhere," Christian added.


The former rhetoric and communications major at the Mount describes his job at William & Mary as the ideal fit for him until he is offered the right head coaching position.


"I got a great job, man. I’m sitting here in Williamsburg right now, I have a business call at 2:15, I’m about to have a quick lunch with my fiancé, coach Shaver's a great guy to work for and I’m learning a ton of basketball," Christian stated. "I recruit the best area in the country; D.C., Maryland, Virginia. I’m at a pretty good place right now and the best thing about it is that I hold my future in my hands."


With Christian's quick ascension from an assistant at NCAA Division III Emory and Henry College in Virginia, to director of basketball operations at Bucknell, and now second assistant with the Tribe, the former three-year captain at the Mount under coach Jim Phelan looks well on his way to a head position somewhere.


"If we beat Carolina [in the first round of the NIT] maybe I’m sitting up there with you today," Christian said.


But I got the sense from our conversation that his ambition will not make him wait much longer for his opportunity.


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Paulus at the Mount?


It is a long shot, but could we see former Duke point guard and, more recently, Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus on staff at the Mount?


Paulus was in contact with a candidate other than Robert Burke about coming on staff with the Mount if that candidate landed the position.


The former No. 1 high school football recruit in the nation from Syracuse, N.Y. (and 2004 Gatorade High School football player of the year), used his fifth year of NCAA athletics eligibility to quarterback the Orange this season before more recently heading off to rookie minicamp with the New Orleans Saints.


According to various outlets, however, Paulus was not offered a contract to remain with the team. This could open the door for his quest to return to college basketball as a coach.


It is unclear whether Paulus was specifically tied to the original candidate whom he contacted, or if he was solely interested at getting started at the Mount. Whatever the scenario, he would be a great addition to the Mount program for various reasons: He played for arguably the best college coach in the game if not the best of all time behind John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski; he would bring instant recognition to the program via media and fans as a former nationally-recognized player; and he would be a big draw for recruits, bringing with him ties of some form to the New York state as well as Durham area.


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My blog I just wrote for the Frederick News-Post re: coach Burke should be up at some point today at this link: http://bit.ly/aBqAPk


More looking back on the coaching search in the coming days.


And today is my birthday so I'm off to Pylesville to get some homemade stromboli from my mom. Thanks for reading and I'm still jobless.