Iowa Basketball: Potential 2020-21 rotation for the Hawkeyes
Center
Starter: Luka Garza
Backup: Jack Nunge
Unsurprisingly, this spot belongs to the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, Luka Garza. Garza posted career totals across the board last year, including 32 minutes per game. His 23.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks showed how dominant he was, night in and night out.
He also bumped his three-point percentage up to 35.8, while shooting a career-high 3.5 threes per game. If he could shoot a similar percentage at five attempts, he would be almost impossible to stop.
The key for Iowa will be keeping Garza out of foul trouble, but his foul rate decreased last season as he only committed 2.5 per game. Towards the stretch of the season, Garza started to play full games, as the Hawkeyes could not afford to have him sit.
Videos have popped up of Garza all summer working out and looking even slimmer than he did last season. If he is as conditioned as he looks and he can stay out of foul trouble, averaging over 36 minutes per game is certainly not out of the question.
In the instances where he has to sit, Nunge is a very capable option at center. Albeit a small sample size, he grabbed 3.5 rebounds in his 14 minutes per game and has the frame to defend Big Ten centers.
Next. Preseason Big Ten power rankings for 2020-21. dark
An intriguing name to watch is freshman Josh Ogundele. A native of England, Ogundele is listed at 6’11, 245 pounds. He was only a three-star recruit, but he’s a tall and big body. Ogundele seems more poised for a role down the line, but McCaffery does have players to use up front.