Garza named All-American by three outlets
Luka Garza was named an All-American by CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and USA Today on Monday.
Iowa’s Luka Garza dunks the ball during a game against Kennesaw State University at Carver Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019. The Hawkeyes defeated the Owls, 93-51. (Emily Wangen/The Daily Iowan)
March 16, 2020
Although the college basketball season has come to an end, Iowa center Luka Garza continues to bring in honors.
Garza earned first-team All-America honors from CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and USA Today on Monday, adding to his expanding list of accolades.
Garza was joined on all three lists by Dayton’s Obi Toppin, Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike, Oregon’s Payton Pritchard, and Marquette’s Markus Howard.
The honors come a week after Garza was named Big Ten Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and Sporting News‘ National Player of the Year. When Sporting News tabbed Garza as its National Player of the Year, it made him the first Hawkeye to earn a national player of the year distinction.
Garza remains a finalist for five national awards: Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, and the Lute Olson Award.
Garza finished Big Ten play averaging 26.2 points per game against league opponents, becoming the first player since Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994 to average at least 26 points a game against conference foes.
The Washington native also set a single-season school record for points, scoring 750 this season. The mark broke John Johnson’s record that was set in 1970.