College Career
Paul attended Wake Forest University and played for the Demon Deacons for two seasons, leading the school to two NCAA Tournaments, including one Sweet Sixteen appearance. He was also part of the first #1 men's basketball team in school history. Paul was recruited by then-Demon Deacons head coach Skip Prosser, who only noticed the young point guard when Paul purposely bumped into him at an AAU tournament in Florida so he would take notice of him. In Paul's freshman year, he started and made an immediate impact. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Year, Third Team All-ACC, an All-American Honorable Mention, and National Freshman of the Year by several publications as he averaged 14.8 points and 5.9 assists a game and helped the Demon Deacons reach the Sweet Sixteen of the 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament before losing to St. Joseph's. Paul also broke five Wake Forest freshman records, three-point percentage, free throws, free throw percentage, assists and steals.
Paul also earned ACC All-Defensive Team honors during his time at Wake and was among the Consensus First Team All-Americans in his sophomore year. He was also a named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team with a 3.21 grade point average as a third-term selection. During the ACC post season tournament, Paul was suspended one game for punching NC State guard Julius Hodge in the groin in the final game of the regular season. By the time he declared for the 2005 NBA Draft as a sophomore, he had finished near the top of almost every offensive category at Wake Forest.
After his sophomore year, Paul declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. The Demon Deacons went 48–16 (.750) in games Chris Paul played in. Paul was ranked second among Wake Forest's all-time career leaders for 3-point shooting percentage (.469), and 7th in assists and steals.
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