Ames High's championship basketball teams were more than just Harrison Barnes and Doug McDermott

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's been mentioned a time or two, but the Ames High School boys' basketball teams of 2009 and 2010 were really good.

If Creighton beats Alabama Friday in the NCAA tournament, it will almost surely play North Carolina Sunday. That's Creighton with sophomore All-America forward Doug McDermott of Ames and Carolina with All-America forward Harrison Barnes of Ames.

The point guard of the '09 Ames team hopes his own team is still alive in the NCAAs come Friday.

Bubu Palo will be in Iowa State Coach Fred Hoiberg's player-rotation tonight when the Cyclones face Connecticut in an NCAA second-round game. Palo graduated a year ahead of Barnes and McDermott, but did his part to help Ames to the first of its two straight Class 4A state-titles and the first half of its 53 straight victories.

“Being with players like that, the drive is so great,” Palo said. “They're very focused, and you push each other.”

Then-ISU Coach Greg McDermott invited Palo to join the Cyclones as a walk-on. He took a red-shirt season, then played in all 32 games last season for first-year coach Hoiberg.

Palo played 30 minutes and scored a career-high 14 points in ISU's 86-76 win over Iowa last Dec. 9. Soon afterward, Hoiberg put him on full scholarship for the spring semester. But Palo fractured a wrist early in the Big 12 season and missed 13 games.

He has returned to action, though, and played 12 minutes in the Cyclones' Big 12 tourney loss to Texas last Thursday.

“I had been looking at lower to mid-major schools out of high school,” Palo said, “but I've always a been a Cyclone fan, growing up in Ames and watching Jamaal Tinsley, Marcus Fizer, Curtis Stinson.”

There is yet another player from that Ames team who plays D-I ball. Guard Jesse Pritchard averaged 14 minutes for the Yale squad that played Wednesday night in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

A fifth D-I player from those Little Cyclones teams could be forthcoming. Guard Michael Weber just wrapped up his second season at Kirkwood Community College, where he was the leading scorer for the 27-5 Eagles.