April 19, 2006
By Mark Lazerus / Post-Tribune staff writer
Most of the words coming out of Paul Guede’s mouth are colored by a lilting British accent, just as you’d expect from a guy born and raised in London. Every now and then, though, Guede drops in a southern twang to keep you on your toes. After all, he’s been in North Carolina for three years.
“It’s been kicking in a little bit,” he said with a laugh.
Next on the agenda is a Northwest Indiana accent — something he’ll start working on when he arrives at Valparaiso University on July 2 to get an early start on his college career.
Guede (pronounced '’gweed’), a standout swingman for Grace Christian High School in Sanford, N.C., officially joined the Valparaiso basketball program on Tuesday, with the school receiving his letter of intent.
Guede is Valparaiso’s second catch during the late signing period, joining 7-foot-1 New Zealander Calum MacLeod, who played two seasons at Gonzaga.
“Paul is a perfect fit for Valpo,” head coach Homer Drew said in a release. “He is a quality person, student and basketball player, and we are extremely excited to get him on campus and make him a part of the Valpo family.”
Seven months ago, Valparaiso was as far from Guede’s mind as possible, and Valparaiso had barely even heard of him. But after receiving interest from top-tier schools such as Indiana, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M, as well as a host of smaller Division I schools, Guede went unsigned in the fall.
It wasn’t until January that the Crusaders came calling, after hearing about him at a Christian high school tournament in Tennessee. He went on an official visit to VU in February more out of curiosity than anything.
“They had gotten in so late in the recruitment, it was pretty much, all right, let me go see what it’s all about,” Guede said. “I had heard about Valpo, I knew they had a great tradition, and I just wanted to go see the school.”
He liked what he saw. Coming from a small high school, he liked the small-school atmosphere at Valparaiso. He liked that it offered degrees in international business and sports management, his favored majors. He liked that it was a Christian school. He liked that Homer Drew was a “godly man.”
Suddenly, Valparaiso was in the mix, calling twice a week and e-mailing regularly.
“Valpo pretty much came out of nowhere,” Guede said. “When I took my visit, I was pretty surprised. It seemed like a great fit for me. I felt like a lot of the bigger schools were more business-oriented. At a smaller school like Valpo, I felt that coach Drew would care about me on the court and off the court.”
On the court, Guede is an explosive, versatile player. He can play point guard, shooting guard or small forward. He led his high school team to two state championships in the Christian league, leading the team in assists all three of his seasons. He averaged 22 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists as a senior.
Guede lists his ability to get to the basket, post up and play unselfishly as his strengths. He hopes to improve his outside jumper and add about 10 pounds to his 6-5, 200-pound frame.
With Valparaiso’s entire starting five graduating, assistant coach Bryce Drew sees Guede playing a significant role next season.
“Losing as many people as we did, he’s definitely going to have an opportunity to come in and get some playing time right away,” Drew said. “The great thing about Paul is he can play a bunch of different positions.”
And that’s fine with Guede, who came to America three years ago to find a career in basketball.
The A/B student wanted to play at an elite level and in an atmosphere where grades mattered — in England, it’s all club sports, where you can play regardless of how badly you do in school.
He’ll get both at Valparaiso.
“I’ll do whatever coach Drew wants me to do to help the team win,” he said. “If that means playing a lot of minutes, that’s great. I’ll do whatever I can.”
Contact Mark Lazerus at 648-3140 or mlazerus@post-trib.com
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