Life as a Mountaineer – Pauly Paulicap
January 30, 2022 09:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you are struggling to find that right dish to make for supper tonight, chef.pauly might be worth a follow on Instagram.
That's WVU senior forward Paul Paulicap's Instagram account that features some of his best culinary creations. His avatar includes the caption "Caribbean Soul Food."
"I love my soul food Sundays … fried chicken, mac & cheese, collard greens, sweet-candied yams, yellow rice or fried shrimp," he says on this week's Life as a Mountaineer. "I used to watch House Kitchen and different shows and I was always intrigued with the idea of food and putting different things together. I'm a big taste guy. I like food that tastes good. My mom was always cooking so I was always watching her so that's where I learned and got my base from."
From there, he went to YouTube to expand his kitchen game.
"Figuring out different recipes and putting things together, I realized this is another talent of mine," he says. "I've gotten better and better and really it's more therapeutic for me to cook something and enjoy it afterward.
"Go to Instagram and follow chef.pauly. I've got some new content coming. I can show you how to make something out of nothing and you'll be alright."
Of course, Paulicap's primary game is college basketball. The DePaul transfer is still getting used to his new team. The Elmont, New York, resident's stops include Manhattan and Harcum College.
"I was actually on JV in my first year officially playing basketball, so obviously I wasn't very good," he recalls. "But there was one game when I had like 20 (points) and 20 (rebounds) and it kind of sparked me into thinking, 'I can actually do this.' I wanted that reward again. I wanted that feeling again, and it just kept picking up and I got better."
He's now developed into one of West Virginia's primary bigs coming off the bench playing in the Big 12, universally considered the No. 1 conference in men's college basketball.
Paulicap says playing in big arenas such as the WVU Coliseum with great fan support has been rewarding.
"I've always had support and fans; I was always able to get them involved, but this is, obviously, a whole other level of fan support," he says. "I went to Kroger the other day and I had people stopping me saying they love me. That feeling is amazing. It's definitely going to take some time to get used to, but I love getting the fans involved. I like getting them going. I like the energy in the gym. I like when everybody is engaged.
"I get a rush when the fans are going crazy off a blocked shot or a dunk or whatever it may be. Not even scoring or putting up numbers, but that reward in itself is so satisfying," he adds.
Then, when he needs to come off the euphoria of playing a college basketball game in front of 14,000 screaming fans, he resorts to something that has been around for the last 5,000 years or so - yoga.
"I started doing yoga last year when I first got to DePaul for many reasons," he explains. "Yoga can be beneficial for the body getting your joints and range of motion back into place. When I was young I was diagnosed with ADHD, and the biggest struggle everywhere I've been is adjusting and trying to cope with everything being thrown at me mentally. Meditating allows me to be tranquil and Zen and not let the different things happening to me daily run through my mind."
He adds, "If you have ADHD, they use the analogy of a whole bunch of tabs open on a computer and at least half of them have music coming from it. It's like just can't turn that off so meditating and doing yoga for allows me to bit by bit close out those tabs and be tranquil and centered."
This week's Life of a Mountaineer was produced by Justin Fitzpatrick and is presented each week by Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
That's WVU senior forward Paul Paulicap's Instagram account that features some of his best culinary creations. His avatar includes the caption "Caribbean Soul Food."
"I love my soul food Sundays … fried chicken, mac & cheese, collard greens, sweet-candied yams, yellow rice or fried shrimp," he says on this week's Life as a Mountaineer. "I used to watch House Kitchen and different shows and I was always intrigued with the idea of food and putting different things together. I'm a big taste guy. I like food that tastes good. My mom was always cooking so I was always watching her so that's where I learned and got my base from."
From there, he went to YouTube to expand his kitchen game.
"Figuring out different recipes and putting things together, I realized this is another talent of mine," he says. "I've gotten better and better and really it's more therapeutic for me to cook something and enjoy it afterward.
"Go to Instagram and follow chef.pauly. I've got some new content coming. I can show you how to make something out of nothing and you'll be alright."
Of course, Paulicap's primary game is college basketball. The DePaul transfer is still getting used to his new team. The Elmont, New York, resident's stops include Manhattan and Harcum College.
"I was actually on JV in my first year officially playing basketball, so obviously I wasn't very good," he recalls. "But there was one game when I had like 20 (points) and 20 (rebounds) and it kind of sparked me into thinking, 'I can actually do this.' I wanted that reward again. I wanted that feeling again, and it just kept picking up and I got better."
He's now developed into one of West Virginia's primary bigs coming off the bench playing in the Big 12, universally considered the No. 1 conference in men's college basketball.
Paulicap says playing in big arenas such as the WVU Coliseum with great fan support has been rewarding.
"I've always had support and fans; I was always able to get them involved, but this is, obviously, a whole other level of fan support," he says. "I went to Kroger the other day and I had people stopping me saying they love me. That feeling is amazing. It's definitely going to take some time to get used to, but I love getting the fans involved. I like getting them going. I like the energy in the gym. I like when everybody is engaged.
"I get a rush when the fans are going crazy off a blocked shot or a dunk or whatever it may be. Not even scoring or putting up numbers, but that reward in itself is so satisfying," he adds.
Then, when he needs to come off the euphoria of playing a college basketball game in front of 14,000 screaming fans, he resorts to something that has been around for the last 5,000 years or so - yoga.
"I started doing yoga last year when I first got to DePaul for many reasons," he explains. "Yoga can be beneficial for the body getting your joints and range of motion back into place. When I was young I was diagnosed with ADHD, and the biggest struggle everywhere I've been is adjusting and trying to cope with everything being thrown at me mentally. Meditating allows me to be tranquil and Zen and not let the different things happening to me daily run through my mind."
He adds, "If you have ADHD, they use the analogy of a whole bunch of tabs open on a computer and at least half of them have music coming from it. It's like just can't turn that off so meditating and doing yoga for allows me to bit by bit close out those tabs and be tranquil and centered."
This week's Life of a Mountaineer was produced by Justin Fitzpatrick and is presented each week by Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
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