March Madness has hit, and everyone seems to have hoop fever — including the Iowa State football team.

The team hooped it up for charity March 7 at Ankeny High School, but there was a unique twist to the game — they had to play in wheelchairs.

For the second year in a row, the Cyclones played in the Creative Community Opportunities wheelchair basketball game to raise money and provide fun for young people with disabilities in the Ankeny area.

Though the game was the Friday night kicking off spring break, 11 members of the football team were willing to hang around and tackle staff members from WHO-TV in Des Moines.

“My last class was at 10:00 Friday morning,” said Jim Tuso, offensive lineman, “so I wasn’t too thrilled at first about hanging around. But I actually truly had a good time. It was nice to help out the kids.”

CCO is a non-profit organization that provides adult services for disabled individuals, said Marcy Davis, CCO executive director. “This is the second year we’ve done this,” Davis said.

CCO was developed by parents of disabled youth who graduated from Ankeny High School in 1992, Davis said.

“They didn’t want to sit around and wait for a group home,” she said. “Now (the kids) can stay at home and get services.”

Davis also said CCO’s fund-raising committee decided the game would be a good idea when they saw a need for additional funding last year.

Assistant Football Coach Paul Rhoads coached the Cyclone wheelchair team. Rhoads said it’s great for the team to participate in the game because it not only helps the kids, but also provides positive exposure for the football team.

“In a project like this, you get some awareness of Iowa State out there,” Rhoads said.

“In a sport like football, you don’t see the kids’ faces because of helmets and I think this way they can get their faces out in the community.”

Ben Bruns, a freshman offensive lineman, said, “I think it’s good that people have a chance to see that we’re quality young men.”

Many players said the game was just plain fun.

“It’s something different that you don’t do everyday,” said Mike O’Brien, a defensive back. “Basically,” he said, “it’s a kid thing.”

“I think it was really fun being with my teammates and seeing how the kids responded to the game,” Bruns said.

Playing the game in wheelchairs was also an enlightening experience for the players.

“Once they take their able body and put it into a disabling wheelchair, they realize they’ve lost a lot of their natural ability sitting down in the chair,” Davis said. “We reversed the usual roles to show people with disabilities can still have great abilities.”

The game showcased a Des Moines wheelchair basketball team called the Iowa Speedsters — that showed the Cyclones how the game was really played.

“Just because you’re in a wheelchair doesn’t mean you can’t do special things,” Tuso said.

“[The Speedsters] were really good. I learned that just because we’re bigger doesn’t mean we have an advantage.”

The Speedsters were able to get in on the game — suiting up in Cyclone jerseys and Channel 13 t-shirts to play with the team.

O’Brien, who also participated last year, said last year’s opponent, the Iowa Barnstormers, were much tougher than Channel 13, although the Cyclones still managed to pull off the game by one point in overtime.

“I think that we caught on a lot faster than Channel 13,” Tuso said, “and that gave us an advantage early, but they caught up fast.”

Rhoads said the Cyclones are active in community service projects and said players are always willing to volunteer to help.

As for next year, Rhoads said he plans to make a return trip.

“I already got a letter and they said they want us to come back next year,” Rhoads said.

This year’s participants were Charlie Bogwill, O’Brien, Tuso, Brian Bartholomew, Kurt Levetzow, Andre Lee, Kevin Wilson, Bruns, James O’Neal, Marc Cortez and Chad Billings.