Marcus Paige

Marcus Taylor Paige (born September 11, 1993) is an American college basketball player for the University of North Carolina. A senior in the upcoming 2015-2016 season, he went to Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, where he was Iowa Mr. Basketball and a top-ranked prep basketball player in the Class of 2012.

High school career

Paige was rated as the number 22 overall player (and the best point guard) in the class of 2012 in the ESPNU 100, the number 35 player by Scout.com, and the number 34 player by Rivals.com.

In his junior year, Paige led Linn-Mar High School to an undefeated season and the 2011 4-A state title. However, the honor of team MVP went to Matt Bohannon, a senior who went on to play basketball at the University of Northern Iowa. Considered by scouts to be an excellent ball handler with shooting range to the three-point line, Paige also played on the AAU circuit with Martin Brothers Select.

On January 8, 2011, Paige verbally committed to play college basketball for North Carolina, turning down scholarship offers from Kansas, Minnesota, Virginia, Illinois, and Iowa. In his senior season, Paige was the leader of his Linn-Mar team, as he averaged over 28 points a game. He also recorded the most points in school history with 49 against Cedar Rapids Kennedy in Substate. Marcus Paige's high school career ended when Linn-Mar was defeated by Iowa City West in the State Semifinals.