I’ve played basketball competitively twice in my life. Once was my fourth grade year when I played for the junior-Bullets and scored two points the whole season.

The next time I gave it a try I was a freshman in high school and become the starting center on the B-team. I was one of the tallest at this time, so I embraced the position and actually become pretty good, averaging about four points and a couple rebounds a game.

Don’t laugh, that was good for me.

When I returned for my sophomore year, ready to be the best center I could be, I noticed that everyone I played with decided to grow immensely over a year and there I was, a 6-foot-1 baller with nothing but post moves — which does about as much good as a nice car with a broken engine; it’s not going to get you very far.

So I put my dream of being a great basketball player aside and moved on to other things.

Towards the end of high school, my love for the game kept bringing me back to the hardwood, and I woke up one day with a better sense of how the game is played and began working towards my new life dream — to play basketball at Iowa State.

Sure it’s a hard dream to fulfill, especially now that I’m a fifth-year senior and can write about basketball much better than I can play it, but I was told to never give up.

When I read an interesting story about college basketball at Grinnell that made it all the way to the Los Angeles Times, a found my loophole for getting on a college team.

When David Arseneault arrived at Grinnell as head basketball coach, the program was worse than many high schools and was bringing no school interest.

With a lack of great athletes, Arseneault developed a new way of playing the game that increased player participation and ultimately has put the Grinnell Pioneers basketball team on the map.

The style of play involves frequent substitutions, shooting quickly from three-point range, focusing on offensive rebounding and installing a full-court press at all times.

The advantages of this style is that Grinnell forces nearly 25 turnovers and averages 130 points per-game. The Pioneers, who are 11-5 and 6-3 in the Midwest Conference, have led all NCAA levels in scoring and three-point baskets for the last 10 seasons.

Another positive about this style is the fact that eight players have double-figure scoring averages and with no roster limit, the team started the season with 19 players meaning anyone can give it a try — in fact, it’s the more the merrier.

Disadvantages to this system is that while pressing does cause turnovers, it also allows for the other team to make easy baskets when they beat the press — which is something Drake was able to do when the Bulldogs handed Grinnell a 162-110 loss in December.

Grinnell averages 65 three-point attempts per game, making nearly 23 a game. The team has fired as many as 83 three-pointers in one game and has twice made 31 in one game this season.

In 1993, the players at Grinnell College made a vote to make this the permanent style for Grinnell, and also voted to never vote again.

So while the team’s record usually hovers around .500 or better, the 1,000-seat Darby Gym that hosts the Pioneers is now selling out.

So when I heard about this I was feeling pretty excited because I can shoot the three, well at least I think I can. But I can practice and maybe even get some pointers from Iowa State’s Jake “ATM” Sullivan.

And I can run. Well, if I got rid of the 12-pack that permanently sits in my stomach and quit playing John Madden football every free second I have, I can be a runner.

This is a system I can see working at Iowa State. There are already shooters in place, and head coach Larry Eustachy loves to run his players.

All the team needs is more bodies to do such things, and maybe someone can teach Andrew Skoglund how to shoot the three and run — he could be quite the threat.

While my writer Rick Kerr invited Eustachy to come party with him on Wednesday, I want to extend a different proposition. Larry, you should change the team’s style to that of Grinnell and coach Arseneault, and I will be the first one to sign up.

Screw graduating in May, I’m working on my running, pressing and shooting from now on and my hopes are that Iowa State will win the Big 12 next year out-scoring everyone.

And hopefully I’ll average more than four points per game.

Kyle Moss is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale. He is the sports editor of the Daily.