Utah high school stars deal with life on bubble

SALT LAKE CITY — Olympus High's 6-foot-7 wingman Nick Paulos has it made.

Or so you'd think.

The just-turned 18-year-old Basketball Jones is tops on his Titans team in both scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). Late last month he showed what his silky jump shot is capable of when he poured in five 3-pointers and 26 points in leading his team to a 31-point torching of Woods Cross.

He's on a first-name basis with former UCLA basketball coach and mentor Jim Harrick — yes, that same Jim Harrick who won two-thirds of the more than 700 Division I basketball games he coached in, along with being the only head coach not named Wooden in UCLA's splendid basketball history to capture an NCAA championship for the school.

Matt Barnes, his head coach at Olympus, lavishes praise on his senior star for his work ethic and putting teamwork ahead of personal aggrandizement.

His name has been linked to Utah State, Portland, Drake, Davidson, Northern Arizona and UC Santa Barbara as possible D1 destinations where he might continue the next chapter of his hoops dream.

Even after Paulos and his teammates stubbed their toe at home against Bountiful in their regular-season finale last Tuesday night, they still managed a gaudy 18-3 regular-season record and continue to eye greater glory entering this week's state 4A tournament.

Yes, Nick Paulos appears to have it made by every measure, except the bathroom scale, where after three trips through the line at Chuck-a-Rama he still weighs a wispy 170 pounds, inviting doubters to take aim.

In the insanely competitive world of Division I basketball, twig-like 6-7 wingmen don't get to write their own tickets. Instead, they're dispatched to Bubbleland — a basketball void where each week they must demonstrate their mettle while seeking to play their way onto a D1 roster, not unlike Roman gladiators of old.

Paulos finds himself in good company. Bubbleland is forever filled with skilled Utah prep players viewed as too thin, too short, a step too slow, or perhaps academically challenged to be considered automatics to move onto basketball's next level.

Bubbleland's population this season includes South Sevier's 6-3 shooting guard Dillon Bishoff; Provo's 6-4 small forward Ryan Durrant; Brighton swingman Sam Wunderli; Lehi center William Walker; and Paulos, according to Dave Hammer, who runs Intermountain Hoops, a college scouting service.