Brust trusts his instincts, commits to Iowa

A cancelled flight wasn't going to stop Todd Lickliter.

Back in April, the Iowa men's basketball coach was determined to make it to an open gym to see Mundelein star guard Ben Brust in action.

So he and one of his assistant coaches immediately hopped in his car and drove the four hours from Iowa City.

On Wednesday, Lickliter found out that the harried trip was definitely worth it.

Brust, one of the top incoming seniors in the Chicago area, announced that he has committed to Iowa, leaving scholarship offers on the table from Northwestern, Stanford and a slew of mid-major schools such as Butler.

On Monday and Tuesday, Brust spent some time on campus, which sealed the deal.

"I hung out with (former Schaumburg star and new Iowa signee) Cully Payne a little bit. I knew Cully from AAU. He took me around and we worked out together at Carver-Hawkeye Arena," Brust said. "It all fell in place while I was there-the direction they are heading, the school, the basketball, the academics, the atmosphere.

"It all just came together. I got a lot of positive feelings out of it. I'm 100 percent into this and it's the right decision."

Brust especially likes Lickliter's philosophy and the opportunity to compete in the Big Ten.

"I've got a chance to come in right away and compete for a lot of minutes in a system that I think is a great system," Brust said. "I love to read and react to the game and I think their system will give me and the other guards a chance to do that.

"And to get to do that in the Big Ten - not many people get the chance to do that. The more I think about that, the more it excites me. To play at such a high level day in and day out, to go into Michigan State, Ohio State, Illinois, places like that - it's going to be nuts, it's going to be a challenge. But I'm excited and I think I'm really ready for it."

Brust is also ready to resume his high school career.

He was abruptly sidelined last season when he broke his right ankle in a mid-January game against Stevenson. He was averaging an area-best 26.3 points at the time and had recorded a 45-point outburst against Libertyville that included 6 three-pointers.

The break required surgery and Brust, a self-described gym rat, had to refrain from playing basketball for three months.

It wasn't easy.

But as soon as he was able, Brust started doing cardio exercises. He also lifted weights and worked on the finer points of his game, things that sometimes fall through the cracks when playing games is the focus.

"Ben's gotten stronger, he's worked on so many things and he really appreciates basketball again," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "And since he's come back, he hasn't missed a beat. He's been playing really well since April.

"A lot of college coaches saw him this spring and I think what they all like about him is that he can just really shoot the ball. He's got a knack for scoring and he's just got such a high motor. He's always going, always playing."

And now, Brust can just play without the worry.

The pressure is off.

"I'm really relieved to have made this decision," Brust said. "Now I can just go out and play and have fun and try to win some games. We want to win conference, go downstate.

"It'll be fun to focus on that. But I'm also excited about the challenges ahead. What I have to look forward to is really exciting."