A Webster County judge granted Bubu Palo a temporary stay Jan. 16, allowing him to return to the ISU men’s basketball team.

The decision, made by Judge Thomas Bice, allows Palo to rejoin the basketball team until his appeal of ISU President Steven Leath’s decision to remove him from the team—and the Iowa Board of Regents reaffirmation of that decision—is heard in district court.

“Mr. Palo looks forward to the opportunity to rejoin his teammates and contribute during this outstanding Cyclone season,” Palo’s lawyer, Matthew Boles, said Jan. 16. “Palo will be meeting with Coach [Fred] Hoiberg to rejoin the team in the next 24 hours.”

Palo said on Jan. 16 that he did not want to comment until he meets with Hoiberg.

What happens next for Palo is far from certain.

Jamie Pollard, ISU athletic director, released a statement Jan. 16 disagreeing with the court’s decision to allow Palo to rejoin the team while the appeal process plays out. Others had no comment.

“We are disappointed to learn of the district court judge’s decision to reinstate Bubu Palo to our basketball team,” Pollard said. “We believe the university should have the sole right and responsibility to determine any student’s participation in extracurricular activities at Iowa State University.”

While players shared their excitement to have Palo rejoin the team on social media, Hoiberg was silent on the future of Palo with Iowa State, except to say he will not travel with the team this weekend when it plays in Austin, Texas.

“Then we’ll go from there,” Hoiberg said.

Players were focused on Saturday’s game against Texas, but Melvin Ejim also shared joy that Palo will return. He stopped short of calling Palo’s ongoing situation a distraction to the team.

“I don’t know if I’d say it’s a distraction because we’re 14-2,” Ejim said. “Is it tough to see one of your friends, your teammates, your roommates going through something like that? Definitely.”

After being charged with sexual abuse in the second degree in September 2012 as the result of an incident in May 2012, Palo was indefinitely suspended from the basketball team. When charges were dropped in January 2013, Palo was reinstated and played 17 games for the Cyclones during the 2012-13 season.

Also in September 2012, the ISU Office of Judicial Affairs charged Palo with violating the university’s Code of Conduct relating to sexual misconduct. The matter moved to an administrative law judge in April 2013 who ruled the accusations were “not founded,” according to court documents.

An appeal of that decision was heard last summer by Leath, who ruled that the code of conduct had been violated. Palo was removed from the basketball team Aug. 30, 2013, after Leath’s decision. The Iowa Board of Regents affirmed Leath’s decision Dec. 5, and Palo took the matter to district court.

In granting the stay on Jan. 16, the district court said, “there are several facts that this Court finds most troubling.”

The court struggled with the fact that Leath issued his decision concerning Palo five days after the deadline that would have allowed Palo to transfer to another school and take advantage of remaining eligibility. Leath made his ruling regarding Palo on Aug. 30 when it was appealed in early June 2013.

According to court documents, the court called the Board of Regents’ affirmation, “on first blush… a ‘rubber stamp’ of President Leath’s decision, even though it took three months to render said ruling.”

The court feels Palo would suffer “irreparable injury” if he is not allowed to return to the team, “as his time is short and there is no ‘next season’ concerning his eligibility.”

The court also questioned the claims of Palo being on the basketball team potentially tarnishing the university’s reputation and image.

“If this is true, then why renew Mr. Palo’s scholarship, allow him to remain a student in ‘good standing’ and have full and unrestricted privileges as an ISU student, other than participating in basketball?” court documents read. “Further, if these claims are truly believed, then why was he reinstated to the basketball team during the 2012-13 season and allowed to participate in 17 games?”

The full record will now be transmitted to the district court for review by the end of January. Each side will then brief the issues and the district court will enter a ruling on Palo’s appeal thereafter. 

For now, he is allowed to rejoin the ISU men’s basketball team, even with the future’s uncertainty.

“You’ve got to find a way to put that aside and play the game,” Ejim said. “I’m glad to see this is coming to a close and hopefully he’ll be here.”