ISU stacked at point guard

Basketball is like any sport; it evolves over time. But some things don’t change and one of those is the importance of the point guard position for every basketball team at every level of competition. Iowa State enters the 2009-10 season with three scholarship point guards in back-to-back-to-back classes along with a underrated walk-on prospect coming in. Here’s a look at the position for ISU this season with quotes from Cyclone head coach Greg McDermott about all of his players at the one.

10 - Diante Garrett
6-foot-4, 190 Pounds, Junior, Milwaukee (Wisc.) Vincent

2008-09 At-a-Glance (from cyclones.com): Was one of the Big 12’s top playmakers, ranking third in the league and 36th nationally in assists (5.0 apg)…totaled 161 assists to rank 14th on ISU’s single-season assist chart…one of two players to start all 32 games…was second on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and averaged 3.3 rebounds…led the team in steals with 30…shot 70.7 percent (82-116 FT) from the free-throw line…ranked 10th in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (1.7 a/t)…handed out five or more assists in 17 of 32 games…led or tied ISU in assists in 22 of 32 games…recorded two double-doubles and four double-digit assist games…posted a career-high 26 points at Hawaii, going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, marking the 16th time in school history where a Cyclone was perfect from the charity stripe with at least 10 attempts…dished out a career-high 11 assists vs. Loyola-Marymount and Missouri…posted a double-double with 17 points (8-17 FG) and 10 dimes against Oklahoma…notched 17 points vs. Texas Tech (6-12 FG; 5-6 FT)…made a career-high three treys vs. UW-Milwaukee en route to 17 points…currently ranks 18th on ISU’s career assist chart (252)…named to the all-tournament team of the World Vision Classic…was honored as National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA) for his improvement in the weight room.

McDermott on Garrett:

“Diante Garrett being back for his third season, he made progress (last season) as the year went on. I think he’s continued to add to his strengths. He works extremely hard on his shooting. His feel for what we’re doing offensively is at a different place than he’s ever been. We also have the luxury to move Diante off the ball some. Let him slash, let him penetrate, allow him to use some ball screens from the wing - where most of what he’s done has been from the top of the floor - and creating things for himself and his teammates that way.”

1 - Dominique Buckley
6-foot-2, 200 Pounds, Sophomore, Detroit (Mich.) Romulus

2008-09 At-a-Glance (from cyclones.com): Played in 25 games as a reserve point guard, averaging 1.3 points and 0.8 assists…logged a career-high 19 minutes vs. Texas A&M…tallied five points vs. SIU-Edwardsville and Colorado…handed out three dimes vs. Iowa, Jacksonville State and SIU-Edwardsville.

McDermott on Buckley:

“I was very pleased last year with the development of Dominique Buckley last year towards the end of the season. It is rare to have a freshman really turn it on at the end of the year. Dominique struggled with the demands of being a college athlete and everything that goes into learning to play the point guard position at this level. A lot of freshmen when they have that much trouble will end up hitting a wall at some point and not be able to fight through that. He was learning how to play the most difficult position in our system. But the credit to Dominique is he was playing his best basketball in February and we started to use him off the bench the last three or four weeks of the season.

“And he carried that over into the spring workouts, everything he was doing this summer, and he has continued that this fall. I’ve been pleased with his development. I think if you were to poll the guys and ask who one of the best teammates is on the team, I think Dominique Buckley’s name would probably be on every list. He is certainly a team first type of player.”

2 - Chris Colvin
6-foot-3, 195 Pounds, Freshman, Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young

High School At-a-Glance (from cyclones.com): One of the best guards in the Class of 2009, Colvin was ranked as the 99th-best player in the nation and the 15th-best point guard nationally in the Rivals.com Class of 2009 rankings…named second-team Class 4A all-state (Illinois) as a senior by the AP…averaged 12.3 ppg and 6.2 assists on one of the best and most balanced prep teams in the nation…led his squad to the 2009 Illinois Class 4A (large class) state title…his Whitney Young team defeated Waukegan, 69-66 in the state championship game to finish the season at 26-9…had seven points and a team-high six assists in the state championship game…scored 14, 20, 12 and 17 points in the four previous post-season tournament games…averaged 14.1 ppg as a junior, earning all-state honors…started three years at Whitney Young…named as one of the best players at the 2008 Reebok All-American Camp…his Whitney Young teammates included: Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, (Central Florida), A.J. Rompza (Central Florida), Stanford Brown (Lamar) and Bryan Hall (Northern Illinois).

McDermott on Colvin:

“Chris Colvin I think will also see some time at the point guard position this year. Chris has a lot of natural ability both as a basketball player and with some leadership skills. That I think he was born with. That’s not something you necessarily learn over time. Guys seem to gravitate to him, they follow him, and because of that I think he has a chance to be a special player. He can break down the defense probably as well as anybody we have in our program and he’s got great vision once he gets in there and beats the initial defense. He’s got a good eye for finding who’s open and knowing how to get them the basketball.

“Obviously he came from a very successful high school program, winning the state championship in Illinois last year. So we’re excited about what I think he can bring long-term for our program and also the impact he could have this year if he can pick things up as quickly as we all hope he can.”

25 - Bubu Palo
6-foot-1, 170 Pounds, Freshman, Ames (Iowa)

High School At-a-Glance (from cyclones.com): Joins the team as a recruited walk-on…starting point guard on Ames’ 2009 Class 4A state championship team…team finished the season with a perfect 26-0 mark…started his last two seasons at point guard…averaged 9.1 points as a senior to earn second-team All-CIML honors…had a 3.34 assist/turnover ratio and shot 52.0 percent from the field…scored 11 points in Ames’ state championship game win over Linn-Mar…was an honorable mention all-conference pick as a junior.

McDermott on Palo:

“Bubu Palo is a walk-on from Ames High School and has been a pleasant surprise. I knew he was a good player, I saw him play a lot with my son. I’m confident that he will contribute to our program at some point in time. I don’t know if it will be this year, we’ll see what happens as time comes. He had a great summer playing in the Capital City League, he ended up being MVP of the tournament of that league, his team won the championship. He’s really built upon that, he’s worked hard on his strength, he’s got tremendous quickness, he’s improved as a shooter.”