Feb. 3, 2006
Iowa junior Adam Haluska doesn't live in the past - unless, of course, he is reliving his junior high dunking days. But after transferring from Iowa State following the 2002-03 season, Haluska's future finally started to match his childhood dream of playing Hawkeye basketball. A native of Carroll, Iowa, Haluska earned Co-Big Ten Player of the Week accolades on Jan. 30 for his performance in wins against two top-25 opponents. In a 73-60 victory against 11th-ranked Indiana, Haluska notched the first double-double of his career with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while sinking 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Against 16th-ranked Ohio State, Haluska led the team with 18 points and added seven rebounds in a 67-62 triumph. Haluska talked with the Big Ten about his move to the University of Iowa, hopes for a front office future, and what it takes to start dunking as a seventh grader.
Growing up in Carroll, Iowa, you have said that you have always been a "Hawkeye," but what was the moment like when you realized that you had found your home as a student athlete?
I think just right away when we got on campus. I think the atmosphere around here, everybody's so kind and welcomes people with open arms. I think that's the biggest thing, and you feel like family right away when you step onto the floor and onto this campus. The biggest thing at Iowa is that it's not a big-time state where they have a lot of professional teams, so the state really embraces its athletes.
What has surprised you the most about the University of Iowa and the team?
Just this past year, we've been playing really well right now and the team has been resilient. We're starting to see the fans come back, to turn around and get excited about everything. I think that, in turn, has made the team excited about basketball, excited about playing at home, and we're really pumped up about playing at home. Guys are looking forward to it. It's just a great atmosphere around here right now.
What was the most difficult thing about your redshirt season? What experience was most beneficial?
The most difficult part was sitting out. That was year when we lost a couple guys because of injuries and academics, and you wanted to be out there to support your teammates when they really needed somebody to come off the bench. We just didn't have the numbers that year, and I wanted to be out there. But on the beneficial side, the coaching staff did a great job of just improving my all-around basketball game, not only on the floor but the mental game, too, becoming a better basketball player in all phases of the game. That year off was a chance to work out a lot of time individually with the coaches and improve my overall game.
Being a four-sport standout in basketball, track, baseball and football in high school, why did you decide to pursue basketball in college?
Basketball's always been one of my favorite sports. I loved doing track, loved doing it in the spring, but it was one of those things where I couldn't see myself enjoying it in the long run for a whole year. When you come to college, you come for the experience. The experience [with basketball] is playing in front of 15,000 people, night-in and night-out in one of the best conferences in the nation, so basketball is just a fun sport for me and it's something I love doing and hopefully can continue doing in the future.
Who has been the biggest influence on your basketball career?
My dad, first of all. He was a high school coach, so growing up I was always a gym rat, always involved in being at his practices. I've got to give credit to my whole family. My grandma was an All-American and a Hall of Famer in Iowa for 6-on-6 basketball. My whole family has truly embraced the game. My younger brother plays at a junior college right now, and we've got another younger one who's playing basketball, so it's become a family thing.
What has been your greatest achievement as a student athlete?
I just finished up my finance degree in December. After that I have another year and a half, so I'm going to double major and get a couple certificates. So I think the academic side of it, maintaining a 3.4 GPA, I think is important as a student athlete, just time management and knowing that I can be successful on and off the court.
I'm definitely looking into going into the corporate world, or it would be nice to stay involved in athletics whether it's in a front office position for a professional team or maybe getting into sports agency. I'm kind of looking at the different options, but I've got quite a bit of time right now before I have to decide but I just want to keep my options available. I'd always love to stay involved with athletics.
During last season's lineup change with Pierre Pierce leaving, you had to take on more of the scoring responsibilities. What was the biggest challenge in that changing role?
I don't think it was just a personal change. I think the whole team had to adjust. For the most part, a lot of the offense was set through Pierre, and he was a defensive stopper. He did a lot of great things for this team, so in his absence I thought everybody had to pick it up, and everyone did a tremendous job collectively picking up the slack, with guys like Mike Henderson stepping up defensively, and I thought everybody did their role. Jeff and Greg Brunner did a great job stepping up as leaders and taking the team on their shoulders. I think it just made it that much easier to fall in line with their leadership, those seniors right there, just following behind their steps. When there was time when guys need someone to score the baskets, I thought it was easy to do when you've got great leadership.
Even though you're leading the team in points per game and free throw shooting, you are noted for deferring a lot of the praise and team success to the seniors on your team. What impact have they made on your game? What are some of their leadership tools you will use as next year's senior go-to guy?
The biggest thing with those guys is they are so experienced and they know the game and they appreciate every time they step out on the floor. That's one thing I try to take away just from their leadership, their positive attitudes. I don't think you're going to find anyone else in the country who wants to win as bad as our seniors do, and they've fought a lot of adversity. For me, the biggest thing to take from them is just watching how they handle situations. You know, late game situations where the guys who are hungry, they want the ball, they are confident, and that's something I'm really trying to emulate in my game, too. Just being confident, the way they want the ball in late-game situations. Hopefully next year I'll be able to do what they did this year.
What are your feelings on Big Ten play so far?
So far we're right where we want to be. At the beginning of the season, winning the Big Ten [Championship] outright was one of our main goals and so far we've put ourselves in a position where we are there. Our other goal was to be undefeated at home and so far that's going well. As far as the Big Ten season goes, we're right there and hopefully we progress and get an NCAA Tournament bid. From there we've got a few goals, making a deep run, and so far we're good in all of our goals.
What makes road wins in the Big Ten so tough to come by?
I think the Big Ten is just tough all around. Every team is tough, night in and night out, and then when you've got to go on the road, and play against a team, obviously there's a home court advantage. The Big Ten is well known for it's toughness on the road, just from the fact that home wins for those teams are vital, they are crucial. Just with the strength of the Big Ten overall, it's hard to go into another person's place and get a win. I think the win against Purdue was huge because they are a team that is really fighting right now. We've got a lot of teams like that in the Big Ten right now. They are resilient and a lot of teams are just fighting for every win they can get.
Who is the toughest opponent you have faced in college?
When I was at Iowa State, Kirk Hinrich was one of the toughest guys I've played against individually just for the fact that he kind of controlled the pace of the game. He didn't have to score a ton of points. I remember when I played him at Iowa State he had like three points but he just controlled the entire game, and I was impressed by that, his motivation, and the team that they had.
I'd have to say last year's Illinois team was definitely by far the best team that we've played - them and North Carolina when we were out at the Maui Invitational. Not surprisingly they finished No. 1 and 2 in the nation, so I just think that goes to show how good of teams they really were. We were able to play them and I thought we battled, but they were just a great team.
What is going to be the biggest challenge for Iowa against fellow league-leader Michigan this weekend?
I think size and athleticism right away. Michigan's known for being one of the athletic teams, and right now they're really coming together as a team. They're doing a lot of great things right now, and they're getting some key wins. They're playing at a high level, so I think we're just going to have to go out there and match their toughness.
The rumor is you started dunking in middle school. How tall were you then?
When I was in 7th grade, before I started the year, I told myself and I wrote it down on a piece of paper that I wanted to dunk by the end of seventh grade. I think I was 5'11 at the time. It was the end of April in my seventh grade year, and I was dunking a basketball. It was just kind of one of those things where I wanted to achieve it, and I did.
