IOWA CITY – University of Iowa junior Luka Garza is one of 20 players in the country to be named to the 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List.
Named after three-time NCAA Champion, three-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and three-time National Player of the Year Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its sixth year recognizes the top center in Division I men’s college basketball.
Garza (6-foot-11, 245 pounds) has put up numbers that few Hawkeyes have done through their sophomore season. Garza joins Aaron White and Jess Settles as the only Hawkeyes to total more than 800 points and 350 rebounds through their sophomore year. Last season, Garza tallied 20 or more points a team-best eight times, and ranked second on the squad in scoring (13.1) and fourth in rebounding (4.5). The Washington, D.C. native was an honorable mention all-conference honoree and was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 2K Empire Classic in New York City.
The list will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and then five finalists will be selected in March that will be presented to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the selection committee. The winner of this award will be presented at the sixth annual ESPN College Basketball Awards Show live from Los Angeles on April 10.
Iowa will hit the court for the first time Nov. 4, hosting Lindsey Wilson College in an exhibition on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 7 p.m. (CT).
WTF? No Islamophobic comments from you North Iowa Neanderthals yet? Come on boys show some nads!