Let me preface this by saying I don’t condone poor sportsmanship. With that said, I also don’t like being lied to. Now you know where I’m headed.

A certain former ISU men’s basketball player is making his triumphant return to Ames on Friday night. I think you all know his name, and no, it’s not Reggie George or Aaron Agnew (although I do miss those guys). Iowa State could use Reggie George and his great fashion sense, and goodness knows Aaron Agnew could have shared some of his over-abundant genes with Shawn Taggart and Ross Marsden.

Anyway, back to that other guy. Adam Haluska is a good basketball player. He would start on 95 percent of all teams in the country. He is an incredible athlete and provides a threat from the outside. But enough of the compliments.

Haluska did something you should never do without expecting to take some heat. Some Randy-Johnson-after-you-just-told-him-he-has-to-shave-his-mullet-type heat.

Haluska committed to ISU coach Larry Eustachy as a 15-year-old. He quickly elevated his recruiting stock and became a top-50 player in the nation by the time he graduated from Carroll High School. As a freshman at Iowa State, he averaged just less than 10 points and four rebounds, good enough to be named to the Big 12 all-freshman team.

Then all heck broke loose with the Eustachy scandal.

Despite the turmoil, all of the Cyclones stood behind new coach Wayne Morgan. Even Haluska held firm as he told the Daily in May 2003 when asked about the rumors of his transfer, “It was just all totally false. It was a lot of things that people were reading on message boards and newspapers that totally weren’t true. . We’re definitely a group. Everybody just needs to come together. We’re all going to be successful next season. We just need to stick together on this.”

So much for sticking together.

A week after those statements were made, Haluska quit the team. Days after that, he announced his plans to transfer to Iowa. Thus, the great dislike some have for him. I can tolerate Haluska’s decision to transfer. There are no rules against it. I also respect, however, ISU fans’ decision to express their displeasure with Haluska’s blatantly misleading words.

Haluska turning his back on Iowa State may have worked out best for everyone involved. Who knows – Rahshon “The Weapon of Mass Destruction” Clark may not have been recruited if Haluska was holding down one of the forward spots. The fact remains, Haluska’s actions were bush-league.

That move he pulled belongs on “Laguna Beach.” Actually, I think that was an episode.

Announcer: “Adam tells LC everything is ‘cool’ and that they are ‘tight.’ Later that week he cheats on LC with her evil nemesis Kristin. Two years pass and Adam returns to LC’s hot tub with Kristin by his side. Will LC run over the new couple with her brand-new, freshly painted Land Rover? Find out Friday night.”

Don’t be a Colorado fan and throw crap on the court or yell something that would disgust Tony Soprano. But I love creativity.

If I hear references to fellow back-stabbers Larry Brown or Carlos Boozer, I will quietly chuckle. If all else fails, Erik Hansen’s striking resemblance to Dewey from “Malcolm in the Middle” and Greg Brunner’s hairline is good target practice.

Not that I’m suggesting anything.

– Brent Blum is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.