Iowa's Woodbury seeks strides this offseason

NORTH LIBERTY - Adam Woodbury and teammate Aaron White set an Iowa school record with 38 starts in a season.

The feat is impressive for Woodbury, a 7-foot center who had to battle some of the nation's best centers. As a freshman, Woodbury struggled one-on-one with his opponents, but he also learned some valuable lessons he hopes will propel him this off-season.

“I'm trying to finish higher over the top of people, which is a big thing for the next level, being able to finish over guys that big,” Woodbury said. “When I started (last) season I wasn't that good at it, and I continued to take smaller strides. I think over this off-season I've taken even bigger strides. So when the season gets started back up, that's going to be a big test for me to see if I finish over them.

“I've put on weight and muscle so I think I can finish through contact more. I'm going to try to be a bigger load down there next year.”

Woodbury averaged 4.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 16.5 minutes a game. He faced NBA first-round picks Alex Len (Maryland) and Cody Zeller (Indiana) among other tough, aggressive veteran posts like Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota), Derrick Nix (Michigan State) and Jarred Berggren (Wisconsin). Woodbury battled, including a nine-point, three-rebound effort against Len in an NIT semifinal. But he also knew enough to know he had more to learn.

“Just everything,” he said. “(The coaches) didn't give me too much specifics. Just try to shoot a better percentage from the free-throw line and finish more plays around the rim and be more explosive off the ground and finish with more contact.”

Along with strength and conditioning, Woodbury said he must refine his skill set. During the season, Woodbury sat with assistant coach Kirk Speraw and broke down both his play and also his opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Since finishing the season in early April, Woodbury has watched hours of video and found several areas of improvement.

“I watched a lot,” he said. “There's a lot of things I can do a lot better. So just seeing a guy's corrections and trying to break it all down and learn some tendencies of some of the guys on the team to be able to know where to go when they're driving the ball, I'm going to try and watch a little more as the (off-season) continues to wind down and (the season) gets started up.”