Bubu Palo’s future is still unclear as Colorado State falls by the wayside

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Senior guard Bubu Palo sits on the bench during his first game of the 2014 season after rejoining the team days earlier.

Max Dible

Former ISU guard Bubu Palo will not be taking his talents to Fort Collins, Colorado.

In a text sent to the Des Moines Register on July 10, Palo confirmed that Colorado State-led by former ISU head coach Larry Eustachy-was no longer a potential destination for Palo as he continues to wait on the NCAA to rule on his immediate eligibility.

When asked what his plans were moving forward, Palo wrote, “I am still figuring that out.”

Palo, who played his high school basketball in Ames, walked-on to the ISU basketball team.

In 2012, a former ISU student who had attended high school with Palo reported to police that Palo had sexually assaulted her. Palo was eventually charged with second-degree sexual abuse in September of that year.

The charges against Palo were dismissed by the Story County Attorney’s office in January of 2013 after a forensic specialist gave testimony about a key piece of physical evidence which contradicted the sworn testimony of the accuser and the accuser’s mother.

The accuser and her mother testified that a blouse worn by the accuser on the night of the alleged attack was ripped by Palo during the assault. The forensic specialist refuted those claims, testifying definitively that the blouse could not have been ripped in the fashion the women claimed, nor at the time the women claimed, according to court documents.

Palo was allowed to rejoin the team for the remaining 17 games of the 2012-13 season, but he never saw the court again.

In August 30, 2013 Iowa State president Steven Leath ruled that Palo was ineligible athletically moving forward for violating Iowa State’s student-athlete code of conduct.

That decision was reversed after Palo appealed with a district judge and Palo was again reinstated to the team, but he never stepped foot on the court during a game in his final year.

Throughout all of the legal proceedings, Palo remained an ISU student, finishing his classes and graduating in the Spring of 2014.

Palo continues to seek extended eligibility from the NCAA due to the circumstances surrounding his last two seasons in Ames.