Jamie Rhodes-US PRESSWIRE
Fred Hoiberg wants to be planning his practices for the early portion of the 2012 – 2013 college basketball season. The Iowa State University head basketball coach has other things to deal with following an arrest of one of his players. Babu Palo and another man from Ames, Iowa were arrested Friday on charges of second degree sexual abuse. Since then, Palo has been suspended from the team indefinitely.
The latest police report from Ames Iowa says that Palo offered a ride home to a women in the early morning hours back in May of 2012. Palo allegedly did not take the women home; and drove her to his friend Spencer Cruise’s home and asked her to come inside. Once the women entered the home, she claims to have been sexually assaulted. Palo and Cruise “committed a sex act by force and against the will of the victim”.
The native of Ames,Iowa– Palo was a reserve for Coach Hoiberg last season. The 6’1, 175lbs guard was named to the All-Academic team within the Big 12 last season. He missed a portion of the season with a broken wrist. His career high in scoring came against state rival Iowa.
Iowa State won 23 games a season ago, including winning 12 of 18 games in the Big 12. The Cyclones advanced to the NCAA tournament, and came away with a first round win over the Connecticut Huskies. Their next game was against Kentucky, who went on to win the national championship.
While Palo is not a main ingredient on the Cyclones, any time you have adversity with a player possibly being dismissed for good from the team, that is not a good situation. Look for Coach Hoiberg to get this situation taken care of as soon as possible, and have his team focused for the upcoming season.
