South Sioux City's Mike Gesell didn't always know where he wanted to play college basketball, but he knew he wanted to play somewhere.

"That has been my dream since Day One," Gesell said. "I grew up watching my brother and sister play on some very good South Sioux City basketball teams and then they both played at Wayne State and I always looked up to them and wanted to be just like them.

"From a young age, I worked hard and I loved it. When you love something as much as I like basketball, it's easy to keep working hard and it has all happened for me."

Doc Sadler at Nebraska wanted Gesell. So did Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and Stanford's Johnny Dawkins.

And McCaffery knew it from the beginning.

"The first time I watched Mike work out I knew he was going to be a player I wanted in my program," McCaffery said. "His future as a scoring point guard is one that has me excited. He has the ability to make plays and score with the ball, and he can get everyone involved. He's proven time and again that he is a big time winner."

No doubt Sadler and Dawkins were disappointed when Gesell - who will be in Grand Island Saturday when South Sioux City plays Grand Island Senior High in the Heartland Hoops Classic - signed to play basketball at Iowa.

Gesell said Iowa just seemed the best place for him.

"I have a great relationship with the coaching staff and I just really thought it would be a great fit for me," Gesell said. "I knew some of the guys who were there already and I felt like they had the right pieces and that I fit in very well with them.

"They wanted me to come play point guard - that spot is opening up because they just have one senior point guard - so I'll have an opportunity there and I really like how Iowa likes to push the ball. I really like that style of play overall. It was just the perfect fit for me."

The Heartland Hoops Classic has had a number of Division I players participate during its four years of existence including Elliott Eliason of Chadron (Minnesota), Jesse Carr of Ainsworth (Colorado State) and Bergan's Wes Eikemeier (Colorado State).

Gesell has had an outstanding career at South Sioux City.

He averaged 19.9 points, 6.4 assists and 7.7 rebounds as a sophomore. He was even better as a junior with 25.2 points. 8.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game as he led South Sioux City to its second straight Class B state championship.

Gesell is the No. 73 ranked player in the Class of 2012 by ESPN.com, No. 89 by Scout.com and No. 96 by Rivals.com.

Seventh-year South Sioux City head coach Terry McCormick Gesell has worked hard to achieve his success.

"He's a kid who will get into the gym any possible way he can," McCormick said. "If he's unable to get a hold of me or one of the other assistant coaches, he's going to find an open door in the school somewhere and he's going to get into the gym somehow to work on his game.

"They always say you can tell a lot about the character of a guy by what he does when no one else is watching. There were several times when I'd walk by the gym and just peek in to see what was going on and I'd see Mike drenched in sweat because he had just put up 1,000 shots. He does it not because he wants somebody to see him and say that he works hard, but because he wants to improve his game."

McCormick said Gesell never let all the attention and recruiting hype affect him in any way.

"Mike did a great job of not letting it be a distraction toward him or the team," McCormick said. "It was really neat from my point of view because I got to see and meet a lot of coaches from all over the country who would come in and see him - guys that you see on TV and guys who you look up to - so it was a great process.

"He did a great job of not letting everything distract him and keep him from being the best high school player he can be."

Class B No. 2-rated South Sioux City is now 12-5 overall, including a trip to a tournament in Arizona, and 10-3 in games recognized by the NSAA for wild card points.

McCormick said it will be nice to come to Grand Island and play in the Hoops Classic.

"We went out to Arizona and played four games and that was really cool because we were getting to play teams that we typically wouldn't play and we feel the same way about coming out to Grand Island," McCormick said. "We normally wouldn't get to play against Grand Island Senior High and we get to do it in a nice big arena in front of what we hope is a nice big crowd. I think it's just going to be a great time for our guys."