Minnesota and Iowa might be rivals on the court, but that doesn’t mean the two programs don’t have respect for each other. When it comes to Hawkeyes center Luka Garza, former Gophers forward Daniel Oturu has a lot of respect for his game.

Despite averaging 23.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in the 2019-20 season, Garza was not named the Naismith Player of the Year in college basketball, losing the honor to Dayton’s Obi Toppin. A lot of B1G fans were stunned to see the nation’s top big man not receive the recognition.

That includes Oturu.

After learning that Toppin was named the Player of the Year, Oturu tweeted out his disbelief at the decision. After having to go up against the Iowa center, he knows just how good of a player he is.

“Did Luka Garza not happen or am I missing something,” Oturu tweeted from his account.

Garza and Toppin were considered the two leaders for the national award, with nobody else really in contention. Toppin is an incredibly skilled player, but many point to Garza’s statistics against elite competition as the difference between the two.

You can make the case for both players, but clearly Oturu believes Garza was the top talent in college basketball last season.