When Lucca Staiger asked to lengthen his stay in Germany this summer, he expected to spend the extra days as a member of the country's elite A2 national team. Instead, he passed much of the time in bed.

A case of tonsillitis sidelined Staiger at the end of what he otherwise considers a successful summer, in which he played for two different levels in the German basketball program.

"I played, I don't know, 28 games or something over the whole summer," Staiger said. "I saw my family. It was good."

Staiger flew back to the U.S. earlier this week, picked up the car he stowed for the summer at teammate Cameron Lee's house in Chicago, and drove to Ames. He arrived in town around noon Wednesday.

In the hectic 24 hours that followed, he had two classes, two workouts and a nasty bout of jet lag in addition to a lingering sore throat. He's got a pile of work to makeup from the week and a half of classes he missed. But he says the experience was well worth it.

Staiger, who hadn't been home in a year, spent two and a half months in Europe. He averaged 10.3 points per game and led his team in three-point shooting.

But he says the first few trips onto the court were nerve-wrecking.

"I was really nervous," Staiger said. "I hadn't played a game in a year. I was just, not afraid to make mistakes, but everything I did was feeling weird. Then after a couple minutes it went away and it was all good."

As an 18-year-old in 2006, he was bumped up to the U20 team, but a disappointing last-place finish in the European league's A division sent Staiger and his teammates to the less prestigious B division. He skipped the national program last summer in favor of an early arrival at Iowa State, hoping that would help him earn early playing time as a freshman.

But last fall the NCAA Amateurism Clearinghouse rescinded Staiger's first year of eligibility, and he spent the season on the bench. After that he decided to skip another summer in Ames to rejoin the German squad.

This time Staiger and the rest of the U20 team finished 8-0 in their tournament, avenging the 2006 finish and earning a return to the A division. His personal success earned him an invitation to join the A2 national team.

"It's basically, the Olympic team, those are the best 12 players from Germany," Staiger said. "The A2 team is the second-best 12."

Five games into his turn with the A2 team, Staiger fell ill. He had been planning to travel to Holland for the team's end-of-season tournament, but instead stayed in Germany to rest.

Now back in the U.S., Staiger said the summer helped him work out his nerves and improve his conditioning before taking the court this November. He loved spending time with family and friends. The only bad part, perhaps, is that while freshening up his basketball skills, Staiger's English grew a little stale.

"Some words are missing," he said. "I can't explain it, but some words are missing. But it will come back soon."

Courtney Linehan can be reached at (515) 232-2161, Ext. 360, or clinehan@amestrib.com.