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Jan 10, 2021; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Marcus Carr (5) draws a charging foul against Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
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Jan 10, 2021; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Marcus Carr (5) draws a charging foul against Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
From the start of the season, Iowa Hawkeyes’ Luka Garza has proved he is the best player in the country. Multiple times. His phenomenal feats have made the Hawkeyes one of the top teams. All of this would convince anyone he is the best player the university has seen.
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However, Garza himself believes he isn’t the best player the Hawkeyes have produced. He is currently the all-time leading scorer in Hawkeyes history (men) but believes he is still short of one player. According to David Eickholt, Garza feels former Hawkeyes star Megan Gustafson is the best player in college history among both men and women.
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Feb 2, 2021; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) reacts as Michigan State Spartans forward Julius Marble II (34) looks on during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Despite having an accolade-filled career so far, Garza is humble to admit Gustafson is better. That shows his class, and also the culture that the Hawkeyes have developed among their players.
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Looking back at Megan Gustafson’s outstanding Iowa Hawkeyes career
Gustafson joined the Hawkeyes back in 2015 and slotted in at the center position. In her first season, she scored 373 points and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. She had announced her arrival and got a bigger role in her sophomore season.
After getting a start in each of their 34 games, Gustafson repaid the faith shown in her by the coaches. She almost doubled her production, scoring 621 points. Her field goal percentage improved as well, going from 55% to 65%. Her efforts were recognized by coaches and the media, after she was named first team All-Big Ten.
Gustafson continued her improvement and went on a record-breaking junior year. She won a multitude of awards, and the country was in awe of her performances. She had her career-best performance of 48 points, which came against Minnesota. Although she still fell short in the Naismith Trophy race, it was a fantastic season.
Megan Gustafson sets a conference and school record with 48 points as Iowa battles until the end in Big Ten Tournament #FightForIowa #B1G25WBB pic.twitter.com/LdGgVSnKda
— Iowa Women's BBall (@IowaWBB) March 3, 2018
Few would have thought that there was going to be further improvement, but Gustafson raised her performances through the roof in her final season at Iowa. She had a massive 1023 point season, which came at an insane 70% FG. As the awards tumbled, she finally got her hands on a deserved Naismith Trophy.
Gustafson left Iowa in 2019, and along with 16 school records, she left as the greatest player the university had seen.
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