cato was an obscure player averaging six points and six rebounds at the university of south alabama in 1992-93. at that time, he struck up a relationship with then university of new orleans coach tim floyd, who recognized cato's potential. in 1994, floyd took over as head coach at iowa state university and convinced cato to transfer to iowa state. cato averaged 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocks per game for an iowa state team that reached the sweet sixteen of the 1997 ncaa basketball tournament.