Harty: Mike Gesell and Jarrod Uthoff are freaks
IOWA CITY, Iowa – As somebody who could’ve had the answers to all my tests in college and still not have achieved a 4.0 grade-point average for a semester, Mike Gesell and Jarrod Uthoff are freaks.
And I mean that as a compliment.
What they did in the fall semester by combining for an 8.1 grade-point average is almost beyond comprehension in my world where earning a B was cause for celebration.
Uthoff has received most of his attention for leading Iowa in scoring and blocked shots this season, which continues on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament, because that’s the world we live in where academics take a back seat to sports.
As good as the 6-foot-9 Uthoff has been on the court, he has been better in the classroom, earning a 4.0 grade-point average during the fall semester.
Gesell did ever better than that last fall, earning a 4.1 GPA during the fall semester.
I was curious so I asked Gesell how somebody achieves more than perfection in the classroom. I always thought earning a 4.0 GPA was the ceiling for success and the equivalent of throwing a perfect game.
“I ended up with an A-plus in a class so that’s how I was able to get above it,” Gesell said with a proud look on his face.
Gesell ended up with an A-plus while also preparing for and then playing through part of his senior season.
He and Uthoff maintained perfection despite being pulled in so many different directions as student-athletes.
“It’s not very hard,” Uthoff said Tuesday. “If you do your work and pay attention that’s going to be enough.”
Uthoff and the 6-2 Gesell both were recently recognized for their success in the classroom. Uthoff earned the highest honor as an Academic All-America of the Year, while Gesell was voted to the Academic All-America second team.
“It’s a nice accomplishment, but I’m looking to win a tournament here,” Uthoff said Tuesday of the Big Ten Tournament.
It came as no surprise that Uthoff tried to do downplay his excellence in the classroom. That’s how he is about anything individual, whether it be basketball or academics.
With Uthoff, it’s never about Uthoff. It can make for some boring interviews filled with awkward moments of silence, but you have to admire Uthoff’s unselfishness.
You have to admire Uthoff and Gesell for their commitment to academics, their discipline, but also their talent on and off the court.
I respectfully disagree with Uthoff when he says earning a 4.0 grade-point average for an entire semester isn’t very hard.
It’s not only hard, it’s unobtainable for most students. More would do it if it were easy to earn a 4.0 GPA for an entire semester.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery has coached for nearly three decades at five different colleges, including being an assistant at Notre Dame, and yet, he had only coached one Academic-All-American before coming to Iowa.
Former Notre Dame forward Pat Garrity was the first player to earn that distinction with McCaffery.
“What it does tell you is it’s easy to see why they are having success on the court because they just take care of their business and they are here for all the right reasons, putting the time in and I’m just happy to see them be recognized in that way,” McCaffery said of Gesell and Uthoff.
Senior center Adam Woodbury is no slouch in the classroom, either, having twice earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades.
I asked Woodbury on Tuesday who he would consider the smartest player on the team and he didn’t hesitate in saying his close friend from up near Sioux City.
“I definitely would give it to Mike,” Woodbury said of Gesell, who is from South Sioux City, Neb. “He tries the hardest out of anybody and he’s got the brains to prove it.”
Gesell also has the GPA to prove it.