Sometimes Paul Shirley has to pinch himself.

He’s not in Kansas anymore.

“Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself,” said the freshman forward. “It seems like it has always been my destiny.”

Shirley is meeting his destiny of Division I basketball quickly, seeing action on the court in the Cyclones’ opening two exhibition games, including Tuesday night’s contest against Adelaide of Australia.

Tuesday night, the fans were disappointed, yet also intrigued by a player whom coach Tim Floyd dubbed the evening’s hardest worker. Paul Shirley netted a total of 12 points in only 13 minutes, shooting three for four from the field.

Shirley, an Eagle Scout from Meriden, Kansas (10 miles north of Topeka), is just looking for an opportunity to get a degree and to have some fun.

“Obviously, getting my degree [is a main goal] as well as having a good time and enjoying myself on the basketball court,” he said. Shirley is a National Merit Scholar finalist who, for now, plans to major in engineering.

“I’m trying to work hard and get to play some while I have a chance to,” he continued.

“Obviously, when Cato and Bankhead get back into playing, I won’t get to play that much, but eventually I hope to play. I just need to work on getting stronger and work on my rebounding.”

Thus far, Iowa State has lived up to Shirley’s expectations.

“Iowa is a lot like Kansas,” he said.

Shirley, who was recruited by schools like Davidson, Drake, Harvard, Wichita State, Creighton, Dartmouth, and North Dakota, said he chose ISU for obvious reasons.

“A shot to play in the Big Twelve was too hard to pass up,” he explained, tracking his recruiting along with the career path of assistant coach Steve Krafcisin.

“I knew Coach Krafcisin when he recruited me at North Dakota, then he came here.”

So Shirley followed him, and he likes what he has found in the rest of the coaching staff.

“I was really impressed with Coach Floyd’s reputation,” he said.

“For now, I’ll do what I can and see what happens. This summer I’m going to work hard and lift weights and we’ll see what happens from there.”

And Shirley hopes the coach will be impressed as well.