Gesell’s success impacts teammates off the court

NORTH LIBERTY - Three years into his Iowa basketball career, point guard Mike Gesell wore a cap and gown. The academic All-American received his diploma and walked off the stage to a world of opportunities.

Gesell earned a Bachelor's degree in finance in mid-May and finished with a 3.93 grade-point-average. Yes, he entered Iowa with 20 hours of college credits under his belt, and he's taken summer school classes within weeks of his high school graduation. But to earn a degree and maintain his grades concurrently with a full-time job (err, sport) with cross-country travel in nothing short of remarkable. But his situation already subjected Gesell to some good-natured ribbing from Iowa's staff.

There's nothing to stop Gesell from leaving the Hawkeyes and playing anywhere in America. He has his degree and one year of eligibility.

'Coach (Kirk) Speraw was already joking with me about that,” Gesell said with a laugh. 'I think he heard a rumor or something. I messed with him for a little bit.”

There's no chance Gesell bolts Iowa for anywhere. He has started 67 consecutive games at Iowa, 97 overall. Gesell joined Jeff Horner and Dean Oliver as only the third Iowa player with more than 800 points, 350 assists, 200 rebounds and 100 steals in his first three seasons. Gesell ranks eighth in Iowa career assists (352) and finished ninth in Big Ten play last year with 4.0 per game. He was sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio last year (2.2), one year removed from leading the conference.

Gesell's game has grown more intangibly over his career. His numbers have remained nearly the same, but his presence has changed. After suffering an elbow injury last year, Gesell transformed his game to midrange jumpers and distribution. He became more comfortable.

He's always had confidence, but I don't think it was confidence in his game and his ability to score the ball and his ability to drive the ball and make plays,” said senior guard Anthony Clemmons, Gesell's roommate for three years. 'He's comfortable that if he makes a mistake, he knows he can get it back on the defensive end and recover from it and make up for it. I think he's more confident, and he trusts his game.”

But it's more than just basketball with Gesell. Junior guard Peter Jok touted Gesell's overall leadership and intensity. Clemmons said Gesell's classroom prowess has rubbed off on him.

'It helps me when I'm slacking on homework, I look at him and see him doing homework and it makes me do homework,” Clemmons said. 'He's a good person. After basketball he's going to do good things. To have that around you, it's unbelievable. He makes you a better person.”

Gesell, a native of South Sioux City, Neb., will work toward a Master's degree in sports management but is not taking classes this summer. He divides his time between basketball and a summer internship with North Liberty-based Hawkins Wealth Management.

'That's something I could really see myself doing someday, managing money and solving problems for people in the finance world,” Gesell said. 'That's something that I really wanted to learn more about.”

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