Former ISU guard Chris Babb signed with the Boston Celtics’ D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, after a longer than expected stint at the Celtics’ training camp. 

The native Arlington, Texas, was waived after surviving the initial cut of three players from Boston’s training camp, leaving him as the only invitee left on the official roster at that point. 

“Kind of the deal from the beginning was go there, enjoy training camp, automatically go to the D-League, and then it got to the point Boston was kind of like we like this kid,” Babb said. “We really want to see what’s up.

“It was definitely a good experience to be around those guys and to really get a real shot. I think I turned a lot of heads. They liked me a lot more when I left than when I got there.”

Babb didn’t make an appearance in his first two games for the Celtics, but said coach Brad Stevens told him to keep his head up for when the opportunity came. 

When it did, Babb made the most of it, sinking four of his five 3-pointers during his time in the game. 

“A day or two before that coach Stevens approached me and told me to keep my head up,” Babb said. “It’d been two games and he hadn’t put me in and he told me to just keep my head up and stay positive and keep being a great teammates. He told me it would pay off. Then the next game he put me in, and I played pretty well.”

Babb said he’s got a little break now, and decided to come back to Ames and back to the Sukup Basketball Complex to check in on his alma mater and see how the team was doing. He got a chance to watch them practice, too.

“They’re not looking too bad,” Babb said. “They’ve got a pretty good core group of guys. I think they’ve got a solid six [or] seven guys who are going to be consistent and play well and hopefully some of the younger guys can step up.”