ISU guard Bubu Palo earns his way to scholarship

AMES - Iowa State backup point guard Bubu Palo suppressed the urge to jump for joy.

The Ames native and former - yes, former - walk-on learned from coach Fred Hoiberg about a week ago he would receive a scholarship, turning two and a half years of tireless toil into fully-funded scholar-athlete status.

“It was exciting,” said Palo, whose team faces vagabond Mississippi Valley State at noon Saturday in Hilton Coliseum. “He just told me to keep it quiet a little bit.”

No need for a muzzle now.

Palo's been an instrumental part of the Cyclones' 9-3 start.

He starred in the Dec. 9 win over Iowa, logging a career-high 14 points in 30 minutes.

He's one of four ISU players who see the floor every game, shooting over 50 percent from the field and ranks third on the team in assists with 26.

“He's definitely earned it with what he's done on the court, his leadership,” Hoiberg said. “He had a couple games where he really helped us decide the outcome with his defensive pressure and intensity.”

Crisper execution on offense and more consistent play on defense continue to be the Cyclones' key areas for improvement as Big 12 Conference play looms Jan. 4 when Texas comes to Hilton.

“We've had spurts where we've played very well defensively, but now were getting into the part of our schedule where playing 25 minutes of good defense isn't enough,” said shooting guard Scott Christopherson, who has posted his top scoring efforts in two of the past three games. “If you give them 15 minutes where they can do what they want, you'll be down by 20 already and then it's too late.”

The visiting Delta Devils (1-10) find themselves in such situations frequently as they snake throughout the country.

The team has yet to play a home game and has lost its last six games by an average of 28.5 points.

“They've had an extremely tough schedule and they've had some close games in there,” Hoiberg said. “They had South Carolina down nine entering the last media timeout. They play really fast; really like to get out and push.”

Palo's drive to a scholarship came via actions, not requests.

“We worked out together all summer,” Christopherson said. “I know how hard Bubu has worked for that and there's no doubt about he - he doesn't just deserve it because he works hard, he deserves it because he's a heck of a player.”

And not as quiet as he seems to be.

“He's a character,” said fellow guard Tyrus McGee, ISU's top 3-point shooter in terms of accuracy. “He's always making someone laugh.”

He's also making his parents proud.

He called them first upon hearing the scholarship news.

“My dad just told me congrats, keep up the hard work and my mom was really excited,” Palo said. “She's the one that worries more about stuff like that. My dad's just real chill.”