Darius Paul makes a name for himself
Comparisons are often made between brothers. That’s just the way it goes.
But usually, no one is chanting them with ear-rattling disdain.
Darius Paul has heard the comparisons to his older brother Brandon all winter long. Loud and clear.
Darius, a long, versatile 6-foot-9 senior forward, has been the leading scorer and rebounder at Warren for the last two seasons. Brandon, an explosive and athletic guard at Illinois, made national headlines in January when he scored 43 points to help the Illini upset Ohio State. As a senior at Warren in 2009, he was named Illinois Mr. Basketball.
“Pretty much every conference road game this season, people have been yelling out at Darius about how he’s not as good as Brandon. They chant it from the stands,” said Warren senior center Nathan Boothe, Darius’s close friend and teammate since grade school. “But I’ve never seen him get down about it.”
That’s because Darius doesn’t belabor the point, and he certainly doesn’t try to argue it. And that frees his mind.
“It’s obvious that Brandon is better. I get that,” Darius said matter-of-factly. “But he’s also three years older than me. He’s in college. He’s getting looks from NBA teams. I don’t really know how you can compare us. We don’t even play the same position. I really think the whole thing is irrelevant.”
Now, for those who want to compare apples to apples, Darius is more willing to entertain the idea. Darius in high school versus Brandon in high school
Both put up similar numbers in their final years and, now that Darius has been named the honorary captain of the 2012 Daily Herald Lake County all-area boys basketball team, both are widely regarded as being among the top players to ever come out of the area.
“I think all the comparisons actually spurred Darius on,” Boothe said. “I think they made him want to become a better player and make a name for himself.”
One way that Darius edges Brandon is in team success. Darius carried Warren downstate to the Final Four last year as a junior and helped bring home the Class 4A state runner-up trophy. These days, he’s again got the Blue Devils rolling at the right time. They’ll play in tonight’s sectional championship game for the right to advance to Tuesday’s supersectional at Northern Illinois.
Brandon was never able to advance past the supersectional.
“Brandon had a very good high school career, but he sometimes was kind of a one-man team,” Darius said. “I have a lot more weapons on my team. I have a really good team. We’re really serious about getting downstate again. I loved the feeling of being able to walk into Carver Arena (in Peoria) and know that we were going to get to play.”
Whether or not Warren advances downstate again, the youngest Paul brother (of three Paul brothers) still has plenty of basketball ahead of him. He signed early last fall with Western Michigan, where the coaches were taken with him long before he went out and averaged 17.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3 assists per game this season for the Blue Devils.
“Darius is an extremely long and versatile player with tremendous upside as a college player,” Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. “He also has a way of stepping up at crunch time.”
Paul was clutch in Warren’s big win over Mundelein this season, pouring in a career-high 30 points on 5 three-pointers. His 23 points, including 4 three-pointers, against Libertyville were also big, as was his game-deciding free throw with no time on the clock in an overtime win over Downers Grove South in a shootout at the Sears Centre in January.
Twice this season, Paul pulled down more rebounds himself in a game than Warren’s opponent.
“He’s the best rebounder I’ve ever coached at Warren,” Ramsey said of Paul. “He’s got good length, good hands, good judgment and good timing. He’s just got this knack for the ball.”
According to Boothe, Paul also has a knack for making people laugh. Although, Paul downplays that.
“I don’t know what (Boothe) is talking about,” Paul chuckled.
“It’s just stuff at the spur of the moment,” Boothe said. “Darius will just do something really goofy. He’s a pretty funny guy and can make everyone laugh.”
Paul is hoping that he’ll get the last laugh with the chanters if he and his teammates can ride home from Peoria next weekend in triumph.