Former Hawkeye and NBA player delivers pre-season message at WHS ...

Adam Haluska, a former four-sport stand-out at Carroll High School who went on to All-Conference and Academic All-American honors playing for the University of Iowa basketball team before being drafted by the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), spoke to students, parents and community members at the annual Meet the Team Night and Allamakee Athletic Booster Club Membership Kick-Off event held at Waukon High School Thursday, August 16. Haluska shared a message reflecting on his life and athletic career, the professional basketball portion of which was eventually ended by an accumulation of injuries.

His initial message was one of staying involved and being as active as can be in all that high school has to offer, as it is the one time in a person’s life where that much variety is offered and many times the only time a person can get to be a part of a team that can truly impact an entire community in the way only high school sports can. He also advised those in attendance to enjoy every single moment that they can because high school days eventually come to an end, as does a person’s time in this world.

Haluska talked about how coming from the state of Iowa he was often not given the credit in his professional athletic career that some from larger areas with more opportunity received without even taking the floor, but he also advised that being from Iowa “is not a disadvantage,” rather sharing that “being from Iowa gives us the opportunity to show what hard work and dedication can truly accomplish” and giving credit to his Iowa upbringing in helping him accomplish all he has in his life. He also advised students that they have the rest of their lives to try the things that can often lead to trouble for high school teenagers, noting that he never got involved with those things because he “didn’t want to let the people down who mean the most” and “have done so much” for him. His ultimate message was that “you get out of life what you put into it,” noting that adage can be applied to everything from athletics, academics and work to simply being the kind of person one wants to be.