Smitten Haluska has seen stars since first game of 'knockout'
Little Adam Haluska was the new kid at Carroll Middle School, a 5th-grader still feeling his way around.
He didn't know too many people, didn't know too many names. But he knew how to play basketball. So he gravitated to the goal on the playground during recess until the little girl in the Michigan Starter jacket caught his eye.
"It was one of my first days at the school," Haluska remembered. "I noticed her right away."
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| May 2006: Adam Haluska asks Kendra Bengtson for her hand in marriage. The wedding will be in July. (Provided to SportsLine) |
She noticed him, too.
"I just remember seeing him and basically falling in love right then," Bengtson said. "I just thought he was so good-looking."
So he liked the way she looked. And she liked the way he looked.
Whether you're a movie star running the streets in Hollywood or 5th-grader running the playgrounds in Iowa, physical attraction usually sparks the flames of love. Sometimes those flames burn for a while and fade. Most times they just burn us up completely. But in the case of Adam Haluska and Kendra Bengtson, the spark from that afternoon on that playground led to something unique and special -- a love story built for Valentine's Day and romantics who swear by Meg Ryan films.
"When you find that one person, you just know it," said Haluska, now a fifth-year senior at Iowa. "I can see why outsiders might wonder how this happened and how it works. But I just think we're perfect for each other, and that's what makes it so special."
If you're a college basketball fan you know Haluska. He's the star guard for the Hawkeyes, the 6-foot-5 shooter with range. He's leading the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 20.8 points per game. He sinks 3-pointers more regularly than any player in the league.
If you're a college basketball fan who watches Iowa games, you probably also know Bengtson. She's the girlfriend of the star guard for the Hawkeyes, a vibrant brunette always cheering in the stands. She's leading the Big Ten in random crowd shots. She wears Haluska's jersey, and the producers eat it up.
"She's beautiful, and that definitely gets the cameras' attention," Haluska said with a laugh. "She gets a lot of air time."
Consequently, Haluska and Bengtson are quite the celebrity couple in Iowa City these days. But before they were this, they were that -- just those kids at Carroll Middle School who watched movies together, hung out at the recreation center together, even played basketball together.
