Former Hawkeye men’s basketball center Luka Garza wins 2020-21 Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year
Garza was the 2020-21 men’s basketball consensus National Player of the Year.
Iowa center Luka Garza looks to pass during a men’s basketball game between Iowa and Wisconsin at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, March 7, 2021. The Hawkeyes, celebrating senior day, defeated the Badgers, 77-73.
July 21, 2021
Former Hawkeye center Luka Garza has been named the 2020-21 Jesse Owens Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.
Garza was the Hawkeye men’s basketball program’s first-ever consensus National Player of the Year, sweeping all major postseason awards: Wooden, Naismith, Associated Press, Oscar Robertson, NABC, Lute Olson, and Sporting News awards.
We aren’t given enough characters to list all the accolades that Luka Garza of @IowaHoops collected in 2020-21.
But we were given enough to say he is the 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫.#B1G 🗞️ https://t.co/ilmSFANBGY pic.twitter.com/Ld1FL77xeR
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) July 21, 2021
Garza is the fifth Hawkeye in Iowa Athletics history to earn the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year award, and the first men’s basketball player. Former Iowa wrestlers Brent Metcalf (2008) Barry Davis (1985) and Ed Banach (1983) have won the award, along with former Hawkeye quarterback Chuck Long in 1986.
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The consensus 2020-21 National Player of the Year led NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball with 747 total points, eight 30-point games, 281 made field goals, and 22 20-point games.
In February, Garza broke former Hawkeye Roy Marble’s 32-year-old scoring record and finished his Hawkeye career with 2,306 total points.
After graduating with a degree in economics in May, Garza entered the NBA Draft. He participated in the NBA Draft Combine June 21-27. The NBA Draft will be held July 29 in Chicago, Illinois.