By Chris Monter
FOXSportsNorth.com
January 9, 2011
Marcus Paige, a 6-foot-1 junior point guard from Marion (IA) Linn-Mar, committed to North Carolina Saturday night. He made the official announcement as his team played in the Timberwolves Shootout, defeating Apple Valley 81-35.
Paige scored 16 points in the victory as the Lions, ranked No. 1 in the state improved to 8-0. Paige is ranked as the fifth best point guard in the Class of 2012 and 30th overall and talked to FOXSportsNorth.com about his college choice.
Paige made the original announcement via a press release.
"I would like to thank all the coaches across the country who have taken the time to recruit me to be a part of their basketball program. The recruiting process has been exciting for me and my family. At this time I would like to announce that I have accepted a scholarship offer from Coach Roy Williams to continue my career as a student athlete at the University of North Carolina. The decision process has been difficult and the deciding factors for me include the great relationship that I have developed with Coach Williams and his staff, the history and tradition of North Carolina basketball, and having the opportunity to play for a National Championship."
Paige received scholarship offers from Iowa State and Northern Iowa before his freshman season and added offers from schools such as Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina and Kansas. Paige helped lead the Lions to the state championship game as a sophomore, where they lost to undefeated Ames, led by current North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes. Paige averaged 7.3 points and three assists per game in his first varsity season. He scored twelve of his career-high 22 points as the Lions (23-3) rallied past Bettendorf in a Class 4A state semifinal. He scored eight points in the championship game loss to Ames.
Paige paced the Lions to a 24-2 mark this past season as they finished third in the Class AAAA Tournament and they defeated Sioux City East 62-57 in the third place game. They had lost to SE Polk 41-38 in the semifinals, preventing them from a second straight championship game appearance. Paige averaged 14 points and shot nearly 60% from the field.
Linn-Mar has made seven consecutive Iowa State Tournament final four appearances and are the favorite to win state with the graduation of the country's #1 player, Harrison Barnes, who led Ames to back-to-back state titles.
