Iowa State men’s basketball: Bubu Palo joins former head coach at Colorado State

Last week the good folks at the Ames Tribune reported that former Cyclone Bubu Palo is transferring to Colorado State to play for former ISU coach Larry Eustachy.

Fans will remember that Palo did not play last season and had been mired in a sexual assault charge that allegedly occurred in 2012.  He was removed from the team, but was allowed to eventually join thanks to a ruling from the Iowa district court.

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When he did play in 2012-203 he averaged 2.8 ppg and 1.4 apg.  He has continued to advocate his innocence and has sued his accuser for defamation and harassment after charges were eventually dropped.

In order to play at CSU, Palo needs to obtain a waiver from the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.  He is helped by the fact that there is precedent for a player being granted another year, one who was also accused of sexual assault, in former Maryland Terrapin Dez Wells.  If successful, Palo will join a team that finished 16-16, but returns their top 3 scorers and rebounders.

It also helps that Eustachy is still a quality coach, having gone 42-25 in his first two years with the Rams and has experience recovering from damaging personal situations.

While he was cleared of the sexual assault charge, many Cyclone fans still have mixed feelings on Palo.  He was a hometown figure (former Ames High teammate of Harrison Barnes and Doug McDermott), who fell out of favor after his accusation.  It will be interesting to see how he meshes with a new situation and what Eustachy does with a fellow former Cyclone.

Feel free to express you thoughts in the comments section below.