The Iowa men’s basketball team begins its March Madness campaign on Saturday, and fans have every reason to be restless in counting down the hours until the second-seeded Hawkeyes tip off. After all, if you’re a fan younger than 34 years old, then you’ve never cheered for a home team this good.

Iowa’s two-seed is tied for the highest it has ever been seeded in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The last time the team was seeded this high was 1987. Ronald Reagan was our president and Zac Efron and Hillary Duff were newborns.

Consider that in the decade prior to Fran McCaffery’s arrival in 2010, the Iowa men’s basketball program had completed a woeful descent into last place in the Big Ten. Now, 11 years into McCaffery’s tenure, the program has arguably never been better positioned to compete for a national championship.

Slow growth, some might say, but to that I say a slow rise to prominence is far more welcoming than no rise at all.

Hawkeye fans should be thankful for Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta’s lasting trust in McCaffery, and they should be appreciative of the McCaffery family in general, since his sons are vital members of both this team and future ones.

Speaking of the players, fans can appreciate the successes the team has made in spite of challenges basketball teams face in just getting on the court to play. Their success has required not only their exceptional play-making abilities on the court, but also their extreme discipline in social distancing and in consistently testing negative for COVID-19.

The Hawkeyes played every scheduled game this year, 29 contests in total, while the average number among the top 100 schools nationally was about 23 games.

Perhaps more than anything, fans this week should acknowledge that there are simply not enough positive things to say about Luka Garza and his generational impact on the program. Beyond his best-in-the-nation scoring abilities, his increasing stockpile of national awards, and the competitive ferocity with which he plays, it is Garza’s inspirational work ethic and his steadfast humility that deserve extra attention as we await their play on Saturday.

Listening to Garza speak in post-game press conferences, it’s easy to appreciate this humility in addition to his genuine love for the sport of basketball, his teammates, and for McCaffery and the University of Iowa, whom he so often thanks for “giving him a chance.”

Garza can also be counted on to speak motivationally in his interviews. In one recent excerpt, he described his approach to life and training — to “improve yourself every day until the opportunity comes, and then make the most of it.” This might sound simple or cliché on paper, but it resonates when Garza says it because we’ve seen him live these words — they’re a window into the mentality of this all-time great competitor.

Sensible college basketball fans dream of players like Garza representing their university. As we await their final stanza of 2020-21, be thankful that Luka and his family took a chance on the Hawkeyes.

For those fans anxiously awaiting the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, try converting some of that nervous energy into full-scale appreciation for what this team has accomplished in a season unlike any other. This combination of talent, leadership, and character might not be seen at Iowa again for a very long time.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.