 He spent his senior season at Decatur Christian High School in Illinois, averaging 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game en route to being selected to play in the Illinois Premier Basketball High School All-Star Game.As a high school player, he also competed with the German national basketball team at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and 2006 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.Staiger was declared ineligible for his freshman season with the Cyclones and was forced to sit out the entire season and lose a year of eligibility.