University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Paige Plays Pain-Free
September 8, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
By Adam Lucas
During a recent pickup game, Marcus Paige knifed into the lane, elevated for a twisting basket, and then felt something to which he's still not entirely accustomed—nothing.
After battling through a variety of injuries as a junior, Paige underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle in mid-April. Paige also had to deal with plantar fasciitis last season, but still led the Tar Heels with 14.1 points per game and 170 assists.
After returning to basketball action in June, Paige has spent much of his summer working back into game shape. Being pain-free means he's feeling much more like the player he was as a sophomore rather than as an occasionally hobbled junior.
“I had problems off and on with my ankle, and towards the end of the year it really hurt,” Paige says. “Every time I jumped, I felt a really sharp pinch in the front of my foot. That was on top of dealing on and off with the plantar fasciitis. Around the ACC Tournament, I started feeling really good about the plantar fasciitis, but I was still dealing with the ankle pain.”
Paige pauses for a second, considering the litany of issues he's just described. He sounds more like a senior citizen reciting his pill regimen than a college senior. “It was kind of a rough year for me physically,” he says with a chuckle.
Despite the pain, Paige refused to talk about the true severity of the injuries during most of last season. Even after scoring in single digits in four out of six games near the end of the regular season, he rarely acknowledged how much the pain limited his play.
“Some days it was horrible, and some days it was tolerable,” he says now. “Around the ACC Tournament I started feeling much better about the plantar fasciitis, but I was still dealing with the ankle pain.”
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The numbers suggest that even that slight physical improvement had an impact on the court. Paige shot 44.2 percent from the field in the postseason, as compared to 40.7 percent for the rest of the season.
The numbers were even more pronounced from the perimeter, as he hit 43.5 percent of his three-pointers in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, as compared to 37.9 percent during the regular season.
Since June, his task has been to get back into basketball shape. As a junior, he occasionally had to compromise his game to accommodate the injuries. Now he's playing healthy again.
In addition to the thrill of finally being pain-free, Paige's summer has had a little extra emotion. Last month, when the Tar Heels went through their annual 12-minute run, the senior wondered for just a brief moment if he might even miss some of the Carolina conditioning around this time next year.
“Coach always tells me about Coach Haase when he was a player at Kansas,” Paige says. “He didn't want to take any days off in the summer. He wanted to be as close to perfect in everything he did because it was his last time and he didn't want to miss out on something and regret it. That's the way I've looked at the summer and the preseason. This is the last time I get to do this stuff. I want to soak it in more and become more appreciative of the opportunity.”
It helps that he'll take the opportunity while playing on two good ankles. Paige has weightlifting with Jonas Sahratian in a couple of minutes. As he walks down a Smith Center hallway to prepare for the session, he says, “This is the best I've felt since sophomore year body-wise. When I've played pickup, I've actually felt 100 percent, and I haven't had that in a long time.”
He pauses at the door to the locker room and breaks into a wide grin as he raps on the door.
“Knock on wood,” he says.
