Tom's article.
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Mike Gesell and Adam Woodbury have played a lot of basketball together over the years.
They have spent countless hours together traveling from western Iowa to practices in northeast Iowa, AAU tournaments all over the country, and living in the same apartment for the past four years.
The journey of Gesell and Woodbury started way back when they were 14 year old up and coming basketball stars in the Sioux City area. Woodbury was from Sioux City and Gesell was just across the river in South Sioux City, Nebraska.
Even before the two united on the basketball court, they had heard about each other going back to 5th grade.
"I remember I didn't like him very much," Gesell said with a laugh.
"We knew of each other before we knew each other, probably going back to grade school. He always played up, so I knew how good he was," Woodbury said.
Then when they were 14 they finally united on the basketball court as 8th graders playing for the Martin Brothers/Iowa Stars AAU team.
"Gesell was starting his 8th grade year when I saw him at a Future Stars camp," recalled Martin Brothers Coach Hank Huddleson. "I heard about Adam in his 8th grade year from his high school coach and he was about 6-7 or 6-8 by that point. He started playing with us then and never stopped playing with us."
From that point on, other than playing on different high school teams, they played together and kept playing together all the way thru their college years at the University of Iowa.
The best estimate is that by the end of their senior year at Iowa, they will have played more than 400 games together and logged thousands of hours of windshield time in the process.
"When we would go to AAU practice, it was in Waterloo, so it's about a four hour drive one way and then four hours home. Sometimes we would do that the same day. I can't sleep in cars, but Mike, he can go to sleep right away, so those were long ride for me," Woodbury said. "If you count high school and college, I'd guess we have spent about 1,000 hours together driving around in cars, vans, and buses."
"They traveled together from home a lot," Huddleson said. "Sometimes they would drive separately, but a lot of the time it was together and I know they logged a lot of hours on the road together with their parents going to our practices and to tournaments."
As they began to play together, along with North Carolina standout and Iowa native, Marcus Paige, they developed a great chemistry and an appreciation for their floor games.
"At that time, he and Marcus Paige were two of the best players I had ever seen. Back then my job was pretty easy. All I had to do was play defense and rebound and those guys took all the shots. They were a lot of fun to play with," Woodbury said.
"I remember right away that it was a lot of fun playing with him," Gesell said. "He's a great teammates and does all the little things that guards appreciate, like setting the best screens that I've ever seen."
From 8th grade to the summer before their senior year, Gesell and Woodbury, along with Paige, were a dominant trio on the AAU circuit competing and beating many of the top AAU programs in the country.
"I thought that group really had great chemistry together and they were a great group to coach and it was a lot of fun to watch them play and have success," Huddleson said.
As you would expect, with three highly recruited players on the team, recruiting would come up as a topic on those long road trips during the spring and summer. Paige had his pick of just about every school in the country. Woodbury was very highly recruited and Gesell weighed options of Iowa, Stanford, Nebraska, and Creighton.
"Kids talking about recruiting on road trips is really pretty normal and I know those three did their fair share talking about it," Huddleson said. "I don't think Adam went to Iowa because of Mike and Mike didn't go to Iowa because of Adam, but they talked about recruiting on our trips from time to time."
Gesell said that the plan for both of them to go to Iowa was actually hatched during their final Martin Brothers AAU trip to AAU Nationals in Florida. They sort of made a pact that wasn't known to the media, that they would be going to Iowa.
"On the trip to Florida we talked about it and really kind of decided then that we were going to Iowa," Gesell said. "It didn't come out in the media until later on, but I announced first than then he decided a little bit after that. We just felt that Iowa was the best fit for both of us."
As quickly as those high school years flew by, the college years have been just as quick.
Gesell and Woodbury are now about to embark on their senior seasons in an Iowa uniform. Both have been immediate impact players and starters for the Hawkeye program since the day they arrived on campus.
"We knew that Coach McCaffery would give us a lot of freedom and would develop us as players when we committed to Iowa and he has done that," Gesell.
They enter their senior year as four year starters. Gesell has averaged eight points a game during his Iowa career and is in the top ten all time in assists with 352 heading into this season. Woodbury has averaged 5.7 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game in his Iowa career and those numbers will rise along with his minutes in his senior campaign.
No games have been played in their senior season, so Woodbury and Gesell haven't taken much time sitting back and reflecting on their journey together. But, they will enjoy every moment they have left together on the court.
"I think you have to really cherish this," Woodbury said. "It's hard think about right now because we haven't started the season, but man, we have played a lot of basketball together and we are both excited about going out with a great season."
"It's crazy to think about this being our last year together," Woodbury said. "We have played so many games together and this could be our last, hopefully 40 games together. I think we both understand it and we want to make the most out of this last ride together."
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Mike Gesell and Adam Woodbury have played a lot of basketball together over the years.
They have spent countless hours together traveling from western Iowa to practices in northeast Iowa, AAU tournaments all over the country, and living in the same apartment for the past four years.
The journey of Gesell and Woodbury started way back when they were 14 year old up and coming basketball stars in the Sioux City area. Woodbury was from Sioux City and Gesell was just across the river in South Sioux City, Nebraska.
Even before the two united on the basketball court, they had heard about each other going back to 5th grade.
"I remember I didn't like him very much," Gesell said with a laugh.
"We knew of each other before we knew each other, probably going back to grade school. He always played up, so I knew how good he was," Woodbury said.
Then when they were 14 they finally united on the basketball court as 8th graders playing for the Martin Brothers/Iowa Stars AAU team.
"Gesell was starting his 8th grade year when I saw him at a Future Stars camp," recalled Martin Brothers Coach Hank Huddleson. "I heard about Adam in his 8th grade year from his high school coach and he was about 6-7 or 6-8 by that point. He started playing with us then and never stopped playing with us."
From that point on, other than playing on different high school teams, they played together and kept playing together all the way thru their college years at the University of Iowa.
The best estimate is that by the end of their senior year at Iowa, they will have played more than 400 games together and logged thousands of hours of windshield time in the process.
"When we would go to AAU practice, it was in Waterloo, so it's about a four hour drive one way and then four hours home. Sometimes we would do that the same day. I can't sleep in cars, but Mike, he can go to sleep right away, so those were long ride for me," Woodbury said. "If you count high school and college, I'd guess we have spent about 1,000 hours together driving around in cars, vans, and buses."
"They traveled together from home a lot," Huddleson said. "Sometimes they would drive separately, but a lot of the time it was together and I know they logged a lot of hours on the road together with their parents going to our practices and to tournaments."
As they began to play together, along with North Carolina standout and Iowa native, Marcus Paige, they developed a great chemistry and an appreciation for their floor games.
"At that time, he and Marcus Paige were two of the best players I had ever seen. Back then my job was pretty easy. All I had to do was play defense and rebound and those guys took all the shots. They were a lot of fun to play with," Woodbury said.
"I remember right away that it was a lot of fun playing with him," Gesell said. "He's a great teammates and does all the little things that guards appreciate, like setting the best screens that I've ever seen."
From 8th grade to the summer before their senior year, Gesell and Woodbury, along with Paige, were a dominant trio on the AAU circuit competing and beating many of the top AAU programs in the country.
"I thought that group really had great chemistry together and they were a great group to coach and it was a lot of fun to watch them play and have success," Huddleson said.
As you would expect, with three highly recruited players on the team, recruiting would come up as a topic on those long road trips during the spring and summer. Paige had his pick of just about every school in the country. Woodbury was very highly recruited and Gesell weighed options of Iowa, Stanford, Nebraska, and Creighton.
"Kids talking about recruiting on road trips is really pretty normal and I know those three did their fair share talking about it," Huddleson said. "I don't think Adam went to Iowa because of Mike and Mike didn't go to Iowa because of Adam, but they talked about recruiting on our trips from time to time."
Gesell said that the plan for both of them to go to Iowa was actually hatched during their final Martin Brothers AAU trip to AAU Nationals in Florida. They sort of made a pact that wasn't known to the media, that they would be going to Iowa.
"On the trip to Florida we talked about it and really kind of decided then that we were going to Iowa," Gesell said. "It didn't come out in the media until later on, but I announced first than then he decided a little bit after that. We just felt that Iowa was the best fit for both of us."
As quickly as those high school years flew by, the college years have been just as quick.
Gesell and Woodbury are now about to embark on their senior seasons in an Iowa uniform. Both have been immediate impact players and starters for the Hawkeye program since the day they arrived on campus.
"We knew that Coach McCaffery would give us a lot of freedom and would develop us as players when we committed to Iowa and he has done that," Gesell.
They enter their senior year as four year starters. Gesell has averaged eight points a game during his Iowa career and is in the top ten all time in assists with 352 heading into this season. Woodbury has averaged 5.7 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game in his Iowa career and those numbers will rise along with his minutes in his senior campaign.
No games have been played in their senior season, so Woodbury and Gesell haven't taken much time sitting back and reflecting on their journey together. But, they will enjoy every moment they have left together on the court.
"I think you have to really cherish this," Woodbury said. "It's hard think about right now because we haven't started the season, but man, we have played a lot of basketball together and we are both excited about going out with a great season."
"It's crazy to think about this being our last year together," Woodbury said. "We have played so many games together and this could be our last, hopefully 40 games together. I think we both understand it and we want to make the most out of this last ride together."
