Oct. 29, 2006
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IOWA CITY – Iowa senior Adam Haluska has been named to the pre-season all-Big Ten team, announced Sunday as part of the Big Ten Conference’s annual Basketball Media Day in Chicago. The pre-season team was selected by a vote of media attending the event.
Haluska is joined on the pre-season honor team by Alando Tucker of Wisconsin, D.J. White of Indiana, Geary Claxton of Penn State and Greg Oden of Ohio State. Tucker was selected as the pre-season Player of the Year. Haluska and Tucker are seniors, White and Claxton are juniors and Oden is a true freshman.
Ohio State was selected as the pre-season favorite in the team race, followed by Wisconsin and Illinois. The Buckeyes return one starter and five lettermen from a year ago, when they won the regular season title by one game over Iowa and Illinois. The Hawkeyes defeated the Buckeyes in the title game to claim the 2006 Big Ten Tournament championship.
“Adam’s selection is a deserving honor,” said Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford, who has guided his Hawkeyes to six straight winning seasons and back-to-back berths in the NCAA Tournament. “He truly is one of the top senior players in the nation. He sets a great example for others to follow, both on and off the floor.”
With the Hawkeyes just two weeks away from opening the season, Alford has liked what he has seen from his young team. “We’re getting great effort through the first two weeks and we’re making progress,” said Alford, following the Black and Gold Blowout. “And I expect the new guys will keep improving and gain consistency as they become more and more comfortable with what we are doing.”
Haluska (6-5, 210), a native of Carroll, IA, earned third team all-Big Ten honors last season, averaging 13.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He started every game in helping the Hawkeyes post a 25-9 overall record. Haluska was also an academic all-American as a junior and is a two-time academic all-Big Ten selection.
Haluska, last week, was named to the pre-season Watch List for the John R. Wooden all-America team. He also was recognized with the Anson Mount Scholar/Athlete Award, earning a $5,000 donation to the UI general scholarship fund from Playboy Magazine.
Haluska is the first Hawkeye named to the pre-season all-Big Ten team since forward Reggie Evans and guard Luke Recker were both named to the squad prior to the 2001-02 season.