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23 T he addition of former Hawkeye omas Buese to the University of Iowa men's gymnastics coaching staff has brought more than an extra body to the gym as the trio of coaches aim to launch the program to the next level. Buese joins the Iowa coaching staff aer spending eight years in Lansing, Michigan, where he was a coach at Geddert's Twistars USA Gymnastics Club. "Aer I graduated from Iowa, I started coaching a junior program in Michigan," Buese said. "I learned a lot and developed my coaching style during that time." Buese's stay in Michigan allowed him to coach a new generation, including a world-class gymnast. "He applied to this job right away, but then ended up going to coach a junior program and developed one of the best junior gymnasts of this generation," Iowa head coach JD Reive said. at developmental process is the hardest thing to do in coaching." An assistant coaching position opened up last summer at Iowa and Buese saw an opportunity to return to his alma mater. "Spots don't open very oen in the college coaching world," he said. "I didn't know if it was going to happen, but I was open to taking one." e timing was right for both sides. Iowa needed a coach like Buese and Buese was ready to take another step in his career. "It was a fortuitous series of events," Reive said. "I think we both needed to mature. e program grew, Tom grew, and it was time to come together and keep Iowa moving forward." Buese joins the team with a familiar face already on staff. Assistant coach Ben Ketelsen was a freshman when Buese was a senior and the two trained together for a year as all-arounders. "I have had a long-standing relationship with Tom," Ketelsen said. "When he and I were on the team, there was a small group of gymnasts that trained together. It was me, him, his brother, and a couple others that all got close training all- around." Going from coaching children to young adults maturing in college is the biggest change for Buese who knows that coaching in college has its specific challenges. "My expectation of a college athlete is that the motivation factor should be completely inherent and it is tough for some guys to be motivated." Buese said. "e talent level is much better, but there is less of a difference that I thought in going from a junior program to college." Buese has brought stability to a coaching staff, something new in Reive's seven-year tenure at Iowa. "Tom does a very good job of working with me and Ben. He knows what good gymnastics is and the effort level that it takes," Reive said. "We have a very symbiotic and uniform coaching staff right now and you can feel the difference in the gym."