When I spoke with Luka Garza earlier this year about what NBA front-office executives told him he must do to become a more-attractive prospect, he told me they understood he'd always be a limited athlete, but that if he got better at things like guarding ball-screens, while also improving on the things he could already do really well, there is a place for him in the NBA.
So he worked. And worked. And worked.
All offseason, under unusual circumstances, Garza worked and worked and worked. And the result of all of that work is an undeniably better version of Iowa's senior star.
Did you see what he did Friday night?
Garza took 14 shots, made 13 of them and finished with 34 points (in just 17 minutes) in a 105-77 victory over Iowa State. He was 6-of-7 from 3-point range and is now shooting 68.8% from beyond the arc on 3.2 attempts per game for an Iowa team that's 5-0 with a win over North Carolina.
"He can score inside. He can score outside," said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. "He scores wherever you put him."
Garza, the CBS Sports Preseason National Player of the Year, is now averaging 30.4 and 9.2 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game. He's shooting 67.9 percent from the field and is, at this point, the obvious favorite to be everybody's Player of the Year.
Iowa is No. 3 in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Hawkeyes' next scheduled game is Sunday against Northern Illinois. Then, next Saturday, they're scheduled to play top-ranked Gonzaga.
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Saturday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
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