Hlas: Woodbury shoves Hawkeyes ahead in NCAAs

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Yes, Iowa's Adam Woodbury shoved Temple's Obi Enechionyia out of his way before he caught Mike Gesell's airball and flipped it into the basket.

No, push-offs aren't pretty.

No, this wasn't a pretty game.

No, Woodbury isn't a particularly pretty player.

So what? Winning in the NCAA men's basketball tournament is beautiful, period. Woodbury cemented his place in Hawkeye basketball history with his catch of Mike Gesell's airball and subsequent last-second basket in Iowa's 72-70 overtime victory over Temple Friday in Barclays Center.

'He's not calling that foul with two seconds left in the game,' Woodbury said. 'That's just not something a referee does. It's just part of the deal. It is what is, a battle down low. It was a fight for 45 minutes.'

IOWA FTW March 18, 2016

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How perfectly symbolic of Woodbury's four-year college career. A play that was both rugged and intelligent paid off big-time for the big fella.

'Make sure you call him the big fella,' freshman teammate Ahmad Wagner whispered to me in a corner of the Hawkeyes' locker room.

Big fella, it is. With broad shoulders. He has taken way more than his share of criticism over four years and stared straight ahead without blinking. He has always known who and what he is. It didn't matter to him if the outside world appreciated him as long as his team did.

'I think Mike was honestly the hero on that last play,' Woodbury said, 'because he actually got us a shot. If he doesn't put that on the rim, I have no chance to go get it.'

The shot didn't actually graze the rim, and Woodbury made the hero play. But why quibble with someone who's being humble? Genuinely humble, by the way.

When Woodbury scored, he didn't go nuts. He didn't hop atop the scorer's table and tear off his jersey. He didn't climb into the fifth row of the stands. He stood under the basket and let his teammates pile onto him.

Some 1,300 miles from here, a group of 30 Hawkeye fans did enough roaring for their Sioux City native son. Included were Lance and Brenda Woodbury, Adam's parents.

The Woodburys have gone on so many trips to watch their son over four years, to North Carolina, to Orlando, to the Bahamas. It's required a lot of time, a lot of money. But they couldn't make this one.

The main reason is it's the busiest time of year in Lance's line of work. He is self-employed, owning a Kitchen Solvers franchise. (Brenda is a payroll/administrative coordinator at Morningside College.) Lance specializes in kitchen remodeling, and this a period when there are a lot of home shows to work.

'Others do what I do where I'm from,' Lance said by phone after the game, 'If you're not there, the competition will get you.'

Which is similar to something he has preached to his son.

'I've always told Adam if you're not in the gym, somebody's getting better than you.'

Another reason was something Lance refused to use as an excuse. But it costs a pile of money to go to New York City, especially on short notice.

The NCAA doesn't help families of players here with travel costs. It does pay up to $3,000 in expenses for families of players who travel to the Final Four, and another $1,000 to families of players in the national-title game.

The NCAA is in the middle of a 14-year, $11 billion contract with CBS and Turner Broadcasting. Somebody's making money.

'We don't get too worked up over that,' Lance said. 'It's like old Highway 20 (the east-west highway that runs across Iowa). It probably will be all four-lane at some point, but not until I'm done traveling across it.

'I wish we could have been there today. If they win Sunday (here against Villanova), we'll try to go to Kentucky (for the Sweet 16). Adam understands.'

That's what Woodbury's coaches say about him. He gets it. And he works.

'A great person from a great family,' Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw called him. 'He's blue-collar personified and has been from Day One.

'Our defense has gotten better every year in large part because of Adam Woodbury.'

'He's a guy who literally brings it for you every day,' Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery added. 'For a coach, when they recruit somebody, they hope they get that guy.'

More: One Shining Moment for Adam Woodbury

Iowa barely had any offensive rebounds for most of this game, but suddenly it was getting second- and third-shots. Woodbury tapped the ball out to teammates to extend possessions.

In a game that often felt like it was slipping away from his team, Woodbury grabbed his team's final misfire and nestled it in the basket.

'I didn't come to Iowa to make game-winning baskets,' he said. 'I came to play in the NCAA tournament, to help the team win big games, and be with a great group of guys. I've done all three, I guess.'

Big fella. Big win. But not the biggest self-congratulations.

'I've already moved on to the next game,' Woodbury said. 'I know if you're resting on your laurels, you're going to get beat the following game.'

His dad, who had to hurry across town to make a 5 p.m. work appointment after the game, will nod in approval when he reads that.