Staple Sticking with Cyclones; Burks Decides
The saga of Damion Staple reached a conclusion on Monday, with the 6-7 Jamaican power forward reaffirming his commitment to Iowa State.
New Iowa State Head Coach Wayne Morgan visited with Staple last Thursday at Southeastern Illinois College, and promised him that a release would be granted after an official visit to Ames, Ia.
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Staple, who graduated from Southeastern Illinois College on Friday, took an official visit to Iowa State on Saturday and Sunday.
That's where the plot took some interesting twists and turns, according to SIC Head Coach Todd Franklin.
"At the end of his visit on Sunday, Damion was given his release by Iowa State," Franklin said. "The fact that they did probably worked in their favor, and made Damion trust them more."
That, combined with the uncertainty of winning an appeal with the national letter of intent steering committee, nudged Staple toward sticking with his original commitment.
Less than 24 hours after completing his visit and getting his release, Staple pledged to the Cyclones for a second time this spring.
"Tim [Barnes] is still there, and the playing time should be available," Franklin pointed out. "He has no problem with Coach Morgan or Coach Sundvold."
Franklin said he and Staple had a bit of an issue with the administration at Iowa State, because the school failed to contact them after the Larry Eustachy situation boiled over this spring.
In fact, over a 16-day period after the Eustachy story broke, only Morgan contacted Franklin and Staple. And that occurred long before Morgan was hired as the coach last week, Franklin said.
Staple averaged 15.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game this past season at Southeastern Illinois College, which finished seventh at the NJCAA Tournament this past March. He shot 61 percent from the floor and 53 percent from the foul line.
One of Franklin's other sophomores, 6-3 wing Jermaine Burks, is headed for Missouri-Rolla next fall.
Burks, a native of Louisville, Ky., averaged 10.1 points per game and converted 37 percent of his attempts beyond the arc.
Idaho and several other Division I programs expressed interest in Burke this spring before his commitment to Rolla.