For the first two full weeks of March, Iowa gymnast freshman Bennet Huang was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The second of those two weeks, Huang was also named the NCAA Freshman of the Week.
“Obviously he’s a pretty stellar competitor; he’s still figuring things out, but he’s consistent, he’s a performer,” said men’s gymnastics head coach JD Reive. “He likes to compete. He likes to win. He likes to get out there and lead that. And as a true freshman, that’s a really important characteristic to bring, and I think it’s helped bring everybody up and together.”
These are qualities that Reive searches for when scouting future gymnasts. But even before the recruiting process began, Reive knew what Huang had.
“Bennet actually came to my club program at Stanford, which was when I was an assistant coach there, [when] he was probably 8,” Reive said. “I worked with him for several years for his compulsory development, and when I got this job, he went off to another gym. I had known him and his family for a very long time. Very close with us — his mom helped raise my child, and I taught her kid gymnastics. As he became recruitable, obviously he was somebody I went after very aggressively because I wanted him to be here. It was a very, very natural fit.”
The natural fit can already be felt just in the scores. Huang’s meet participation is especially notable in how he excels as an all-around competitor. Nationally, he’s ranked 10th in all-around, 17th on the floor event, and 22nd on the pommel horse.
Senior Mark Springett says Huang’s participation directly affects the team.
“He brings a lot of potential to this team,” Springett said. “There have definitely been some ups and downs with his performance, just like anybody else. I definitely see a future with Bennet.”
With what Huang has shown already, his potential is especially exciting for the Hawkeye program.
But Springett’s hesitation? That’s thanks to Huang’s habits outside the gym.
“For any freshman, it’s a hard transition period — you have to figure out life on your own,” Springett said. “For most of us, it’s life outside of our own states. You have to get accustomed to Iowa, accustomed to some new coaches, and some new teammates — and that’s always a tough transition.”
Springett’s explanation was the nice way of saying it.
For Huang, gymnastics isn’t all there is to him. Arguably a better cellist than a gymnast, and touting an ACT score just 2 points off of perfect, talented is a good word to describe him.
Classes, laundry, waking up on time — navigating that can almost be harder than landing a flip for Huang. College is a whole new level, as Springett pointed out, and Huang, like every other freshman, is still getting the hang of it, much to his older teammates’ consternation.