Former Iowa basketball star Luka Garza named B1G Male Athlete of the Year
Iowa legend Luka Garza picked up another major accolade on Wednesday.
The Big Ten conference has named Garza its Male Athlete of the Year for 2020-21.
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
Minnesota diver Sarah Bacon was named the Big Ten’s Female Athlete of the Year.
Garza was the consensus National Player of the Year in college basketball for his efforts last season. He averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range.
He led Iowa to a 22-0 record and a No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes have already announced they play to retire Garza’s jersey number following his legendary career.
Garza is the first Iowa men’s basketball player to win this award, per the release. He’s also the first men’s basketball player from any program to win it since Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine in 2016. The last Iowa men’s athlete to win this honor was wrestler Brent Metcalf in 2008.
Garza is currently going through the pre-draft process for the NBA Draft, which is on July 29.