Earlier this morning, Iowa Hawkeye fans received news that suddenly had them thinking big in 2020. We are talking national championship big. The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Luka Garza is returning to Iowa City, and the Hawkeyes look downright scary.
Exclusive: Naismith finalist @LukaG_55 tells @JonRothstein he will return to Iowa for his senior season.@IowaHoops is about to be a problem đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/ldidXgBHMV
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 2, 2020
With Garza deciding to withdraw his name from the 2020 NBA Draft and not go overseas, Iowa gets back a player who averaged 23.9 points and nearly ten rebounds in a season where he was undoubtedly a top-two player in the country alongside Obi Toppin from Dayton. The Washington, D.C. native returns as the odds on favorite to win the 2020-2021 Wooden Award and makes his Hawkeye team a Big Ten title front runner.
Now, after a few days of major conference news, the top of the Big Ten looks as mighty as ever with Illinois returning their two leading scorers in Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, Wisconsin fielding an all-senior starting lineup, and Michigan State getting Xavier Tillman back to East Lansing. The Big Ten conference is setting up to be one of the best conferences college basketball has ever seen in 2020-2021. Do not be surprised if Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan State all end up in the top ten at various points throughout the regular season.