RobHowe
Administrator
Sporting News Names Luka Garza Player of Year
Iowa senior first student-athlete to win in back-to-back seasons since Michael Jordan.
Sporting News Names Luka Garza Player of Year
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
ChosenChildren
Well-Known Member
Amazing honor....back to back!
Greatest player in Iowa basketball history?
Greatest player in Iowa basketball history?
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Probably. The B1G doesn't get the really high recruits so we don't get decimated with early departures like the ACC, but I think even assuming no early departures in the B1G, Luka still would have B1G POTY back to back. But on the national level, I just don't see how he would have beaten someone like Hachimura last year or maybe a healthy Zion or Ja Morant this year. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing honor, but the national talent pool is diluted quite a bit with those early entries.
Fryowa
Administrator
Yes.
Fryowa
Administrator
There's zero way anyone can even be mentioned as better.
Luka is Iowa's all time career leader in:
Points
Field goals
FG% (tied at .545 with Stokes)
Offensive rebounds
Player efficiency rating
Effective FG%
Usage %
Offensive win shares
Win shares per 40
Offensive box plus/minus
There's just no statistical, objective way to call any Hawkeye basketball player better than him.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
No doubt in my mind.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
And so it begins...
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
It's so weird...anybody heard of any of these guys on this list? Were they any good? Jordan, Walton, Bradley, Lucas, Robertson, Abdul-Jabbar, and the Big E - Elvin Hayes. Garza has to be looking at that shaking his head...that would mess with you frankly.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa men’s basketball senior
Luka Garza
was named National Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-American by Sporting News on Tuesday.
Garza is the sixth men’s basketball player to be named National Player of the Year by Sporting News in consecutive seasons (2020-21) and first since Michael Jordan (1983-84). Other consecutive winners include Bill Walton (1969-70), Bill Bradley (1964-65), Jerry Lucas (1961-62), and Oscar Robertson (1958-60). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won it twice, in 1967 and 1969, but his reign was interrupted by Elvin Hayes’ tremendous 1968 season.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa men’s basketball senior
Luka Garza
was named National Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-American by Sporting News on Tuesday.
Garza is the sixth men’s basketball player to be named National Player of the Year by Sporting News in consecutive seasons (2020-21) and first since Michael Jordan (1983-84). Other consecutive winners include Bill Walton (1969-70), Bill Bradley (1964-65), Jerry Lucas (1961-62), and Oscar Robertson (1958-60). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won it twice, in 1967 and 1969, but his reign was interrupted by Elvin Hayes’ tremendous 1968 season.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
One of the more under reported elements of the Jordan legacy is how he pretty much wiped Oscar Robertson off the pantheon of the GOAT discussion.
In the seventies and pre Jordan eighties the big O was solidly in the discussion, and recognized by many as the GOAT.
Now you seldom hear his name brought up. And it wasn't just NBA either. He won two NCAA titles with Cincinnati, finished second to Ohio Stste another time, and I believe won an Olympic gold medal in 1960.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Just to be clear why the Big O was so well regarded...he averaged a triple double in an NBA season. Just saying.
