MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you’re struggling to find the right dish for dinner tonight, be sure to follow chef.pauly on Instagram.
This is WVU Senior Forward Paul Paulicap’s Instagram account, featuring some of his best culinary creations. His avatar includes the caption “Caribbean Soul Food”.
“I love my Sunday soul food…fried chicken, mac & cheese, collards, sweet candied yams, yellow rice, or fried shrimp,” he says of life as a climber this week. “I used to watch House Kitchen and various shows and was always fascinated by the idea of eating and putting different things together. I’m a big flavor guy. I like food that tastes good. My mom used to cook, so it was always me watching her, so I learned from there and got my base.”
From there, he headed to YouTube to expand his kitchen game.
“I’ve found that trying different recipes and putting things together is another talent of mine,” he says. “I’ve been getting better and better and it’s really more therapeutic for me to cook something and then enjoy it.
“Go to Instagram and follow chef.pauly. I have some new content coming. I can show you how to make something out of nothing and you’ll be fine.”
Of course, the main game of Paulicap is college basketball. The DePaul transfer is still getting used to his new team. Elmont, New York resident stops include Manhattan and Harcum College.
“I was my freshman year at JV, where I officially played basketball, so obviously I wasn’t very good,” he recalls. “But there was one game where I was like 20 (points) and 20 (rebounds) and it kind of made me think, ‘I can actually do this.’ I wanted that reward again. I wanted that feeling again and it kept increasing and getting better.”
He has now become one of West Virginia’s greatest players to come off the bench and play in the Big 12, widely considered the No. 1 in men’s collegiate basketball.
According to Paulicap, playing in big arenas like the WVU Coliseum with great fan support has paid off.
“I’ve always had support and fans; I’ve always been able to get them involved, but of course that’s a whole different level of fan support,” he says. “I went to Kroger’s the other day and I was stopped by people telling me they love me. This feeling is incredible. It will definitely take some time to get used to it, but I love getting the fans involved. I like making them work. I like the energy in the gym, I like it when everyone joins in.
“I get a frenzy when the fans go crazy over a blocked shot or a dunk or whatever. Not even scoring or making up numbers, but that reward in itself is so satisfying,” he adds.
Then, when he needs to overcome the euphoria of a college basketball game in front of 14,000 screaming fans, he resorts to something that’s been around for about 5,000 years – yoga.
“I started yoga last year when I first came to DePaul for many reasons,” he explains. “Yoga can benefit the body by restoring your joints and range of motion. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was young and the biggest struggle, wherever I have been, is adjusting and trying to cope with whatever is thrown at me mentally. Meditating allows me to be calm and zen and not get my head around the different things that happen to me on a daily basis.”
He adds: “If you have ADHD, you use the analogy of having a whole bunch of tabs open on a computer and at least half of them coming out with music. It’s like you just can’t turn that off, so meditating and doing yoga for it allows me to gradually close those tabs and be calm and centered.”
A Climber’s Life This week was produced by Justin Fitzpatrick and is presented each week by Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
