CHAMPAIGN — Brandon Paul used the word “persistent” to describe Mike LaTulip’s efforts to recruit the former Illinois guard to join the House of ‘Paign roster for The Basketball Tournament the last two years.
Paul also acknowledged LaTulip, the general manager and coach of the mostly Illini alumni squad, had to be.
Paul knows his text message response time isn’t great. Borderline nonexistent, in his own words. Not that it would come as a surprise to family, friends and former teammates.
“He’s been hitting me up for years since he decided to put the team together just gauging my interest,” Paul said of LaTulip. “I appreciated the space and respect he gave me. I’m glad he’s finally convinced me to play.”
The 30-year-old Paul was one of the final pieces to the roster puzzle for LaTulip heading into year two for House of ‘Paign in the tournament.
A big piece.
One LaTulip didn’t mind working through some narrow windows — early morning and late at night — to keep the lines of communication open with Paul playing his eighth professional season with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s National Basketball League.
“I always like to joke with Brandon you’ve got to factor in about three to four business days on a response,” LaTulip said with a smile. “Brandon’s a guy that, if you’re able to, give him his space. Whether he decides to play with us or decides not to, that doesn’t change anything between him and I. He’s always been transparent with me.
“That’s the one thing you’ll always get with Brandon is transparency. He doesn’t beat around the bush. He tells it like it is. When you’re putting together a team, those are things you appreciate is guys that are straightforward with you and not guys that lead you on and don’t give you a straight answer and are kind of wishy-washy. If there’s one thing about Brandon Paul, he’s not wishy-washy.”
Paul made his TBT debut last summer in the Columbus, Ohio, bubble playing with Team Hines. It wasn’t exactly the experience he wanted. Particularly since he rarely plays in the summer. That’s his time off following a long season, and most years, he likes to use it for traveling.
“He was pretty respectful of my time, and he’s always let me know there was definitely a lot of interest on that side,” Paul said of LaTulip. “I just felt like this summer was a good situation for me to come and play, and I think it will be a lot of fun.”
LaTulip provided Paul with all the information he might need to make a decision to play.
What the roster might look like. How the team will play.
Then, the ball was in Paul’s court.
“You make sure to feel it out and understand if we’re going to have Brandon, that’s a huge piece to our team,” LaTulip said. “If we’re not, how are we going to act on that and continue to recruit and fill that potential void?”
LaTulip didn’t have to consider the latter after Paul signed on to join a House of ‘Paign team that returns Andres Feliz, Mike Daum, Nnanna Egwu and Leron Black from last year’s TBT quarterfinal run and adds six newcomers. That regional games will be played in Peoria — No. 2 seed House of ‘Paign plays its opener at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 24 at the Civic Center — was an added bonus for the Illinois alums.
Paul will get to go from becoming an Illini fan since his time in Champaign ended in 2013 that saw him score 1,654 points (still ninth in program history) to playing in front of them again.
“It was great to see them and how they’ve transformed the program the last couple years and how much success they’ve had,” Paul said. “It’s very exciting to kind of just sit back and be a fan — see what it’s like to be an Illini fan. It’s a lot of fun. I just want to put on a show for the fans. I’m coming to compete and coming to win and hopefully bring some guys some money, but I’m excited to play in front of the fans again.
“It’s going to be a blast. I can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to it. I know how much the fans have been following this team and following Mike’s progress and what they were able to do last year.”
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
