Iowa recruits Mike Gesell, Adam Woodbury on national stage Sunday

Some of the nation's top recruits - including two signed with Iowa - will compete Sunday at the Final Four as part of the four-team high school All-American Championship, an all-star game in New Orleans.

Future Iowa point guard Mike Gesell and center Adam Woodbury are members of the 10-player North team, which will play the South roster at around 3:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPN3.com). Gesell and Woodbury join seven other incoming Big Ten freshmen on the North roster, including Sam Dekker (Wisconsin), Jeremy Hollowell (Indiana), Ronnie Johnson (Purdue), Kenny Kaminski (Michigan State), Marc Loving (Ohio State), Hanner Mosquera-Perea (Indiana) and Glenn Robinson (Michigan). Notre Dame signee Cameron Biedscheid also will play for the North.

Gesell, who hails from South Sioux City, Neb., averaged 24.8 points, 7.4 assists, five rebounds and 2.9 steals this year. He was named the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year this week for the second straight season. The 6-foot-1 guard became the all-time leading scorer in metro Sioux City history with 2,112, points and finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in Nebraska Class A or B history.

Woodbury, who played high school basketball at Sioux City East, is the 21st Iowa high school player to surpass 1,000 career rebounds, finishing his prep career with 1,003 rebounds. The 7-foot-1 center led Class 4A in rebounding the last three years. He averaged 17 points per game as a senior and finished as Sioux City East's all-time leading scorer totaling 1,434 points.

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery told The Gazette two weeks ago that Gesell likely will start for Iowa next year at point guard.

"I really like Mike's ability to run an offense, to score the ball, his toughness, his quickness, his ability to play fast, the way we want to play, and make decisions playing fast," McCaffery said. "With all that, he's an incredible shot maker."

Woodbury, a 7-foot-1 center, will compete for that position.

"I think what he brings to the table as a 7-footer who can run and rebound and trigger the break and finish on the break, and give us that inside presence at both ends of the floor," McCaffery said. "I think he's feeling good about his potential to be a major factor right away."

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Gesell and Woodbury were AAU teammates for Martin Brothers. Their game will re-air as part of a doubleheader on ESPNU beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday.