Here is the video link for Governor Kim Reynolds’ daily press briefing on COVID-19. We will have live audio on KJAN as well at about 11:00 a.m.
Here is the video link for Governor Kim Reynolds’ daily press briefing on COVID-19. We will have live audio on KJAN as well at about 11:00 a.m.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior Luka Garza has been named the recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. The announcement was made by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its sixth year recognizes the top center in Division I men’s college basketball. He is the first Hawkeye to win the award and the third Big Ten player to earn the honor.
“I have looked up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar my entire life,” Garza said. “To win an award in his name is a tremendous honor and one that I share with my family. I am incredibly grateful to have the coaching staff, group of teammates, and my family, which put me in position to win this award. Lastly, I’d like to thank the loyal support of Hawkeye Nation!”
No player was more dominant in the paint in 2019-20 than Garza. Last week, the 6-foot-11 center was the recipient of the NABC Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award.
“Luka Garza is a very intelligent player and it shows in his efficiency with the ball,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “To have 25 games with 20 points or more is no easy task and it proves the level of effort and focus he sustained throughout the season. Congratulations to Luka on this award and a remarkable junior year.”
Last month, six major news outlets named Garza as its national player of the year: Sporting News, Basketball Times, Stadium, Bleacher Report, FOX, and ESPN. He is the first Iowa men’s basketball player to earn national player of the year distinction. Garza was also a unanimous consensus first-team All-America selection. He joins former Hawkeyes Murray Wier (1948) and Charles Darling (1952) as the program’s only consensus first team All-Americans.
“I am extremely proud of Luka and our program,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “Knowing the amount of respect that Luka has for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, this award is incredibly special for Luka. No player in the country was as productive and consistent — against the quality of teams and players in the Big Ten — than Luka Garza in 2020,” added McCaffery. “It’s rewarding to watch a young man work and grow the way Luka has and to see the commitment he has to his teammates, to the program, and to his family.”
Garza (740 points and 305 rebounds) is one of three Big Ten players to ever to total 740+ points and 300+ rebounds in a single-season (Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994 and Purdue’s Joe Barry Carroll in 1979). He ranked second nationally with 12 20-point/10-rebound performances, 20-point games (25); third in total field goals made (287) and points per 40 minutes played (29.8), fifth in scoring (23.9), 10th in 30-point games (5), 19th in double-doubles (15) and offensive rebounds per game (3.58), and 34th in rebounding (9.8). His 15 double-doubles are third most in a single-season by a Hawkeye in three decades and the most since 2002 (Reggie Evans, 18). Garza averaged 26.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 12 games against AP ranked opponents in 2019-20, including recording 11 straight 20-point performances, the longest streak by any player since UConn’s Kemba Walker in 2011.
The Big Ten and USBWA District VI Player of the Year, finished the 20-game conference schedule averaging 26.2 points per game, becoming the first player to average at least 26 points in Big Ten play since Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994 (31.1 ppg). Garza scored a school-record 740 points this season, breaking the program’s 50-year old record previously set by John Johnson in 1970. He scored 20 points or more in a school-record 16 straight Big Ten games, the longest streak by any player in the Big Ten since Ohio State’s Dennis Hopson 16 in 1987.
Garza is the only Big Ten player to register seven 25-point/10-rebound performances in the same season in more than 17 years. He has produced the two highest point totals in a game by a Big Ten player this season (44 at Michigan; 38 at Indiana).
LUKA GARZA HONORS (2019-20)
The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa has a brochure (pictured below) to help you protect yourself against COVID-19 scams.
(Radio Iowa) — The Waterloo man who spent two years lobbying to be able to cut hair in a mobile barbershop is hoping to expand his operation. First, though, William Burt has to wait alongside every other barbershop in the state for the COVID-19 closure to be lifted. “It’s another hurdle I’ve got to get over,” Burt says. Burt, a first-time father at the age of 14 who became a barber after being released from prison, is the subject a short film produced and just released by Americans for Prosperity. The group lobbied alongside Burt to get the state law changed this spring so Burt’s mobile barbershop business could take off. Drew Klein is Americans for Prosperity Iowa state director. “It’s not every day that you get a story that is, from start to finish, this compelling,” Klein says.
The short film is mainly about Burt and his “Kut Kings” mobile barber shop business. However, it briefly focuses on Burt, who lost his right to vote because of his felony conviction, successfully applying to have his voting rights restored. “I’ve got a film crew standing here recording me with tears in my eyes,” Burt said near the end of the film. Burt told reporters last (Tuesday) night that he’s had one inquiry about franchising his business. He’s hoping to open more mobile barbershops to serve major Iowa metros like Davenport and Des Moines.
More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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Jim Field visits with Father Trevor Chicoine of SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Atlantic and St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Anita about the importance of Holy Week and how we cope with the current uncertainty during Lenten season.
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The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.
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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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(Radio Iowa) — State Auditor Rob Sand is asking Governor Kim Reynolds to provide the public more information about the 12-point scale she’s using to monitor the spread of COVID-19 — and decide if, when and where she might order a shelter-in-place order. “This tool is being used to guide life and death decisions,” Sand said. “Life and death decisions deserve answers — good ones.”
Last week, Reynolds and the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health said after 9/11, state officials began developing plans for responding to a variety of disasters — and the state epidemiologist has tailored the tool for this pandemic using Centers for Disease Control guidance. Reynolds yesterday told reporters Iowa isn’t like New York or New Jersey and it would be irresponsible to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order. “We’re doing it on a community, county, region basis,” Reynolds says. “…By using these metrics, then, we will be able to, if we hit a certain point where we think we have to take additional actions or additional steps, we can do that.”
Sand, a Democrat, says giving Iowans more information will help them make better informed decisions about their actions during the pandemic. Reynolds, a Republican, has said every Iowan needs to take responsibility for their health and the health of others and stay home.
(Radio Iowa) — Dairy farmers in Iowa and across the country including those are adjusting to a new marketplace. Farmer relations manager for Midwest Dairy, Mitch Schulte says that’s because demand from the foodservice industry and from schools has dwindled after they were shut down by the coronavirus outbreak. But on the other hand, Schulte says retail customers are purchasing more milk. “I think we’ve seen a pretty big surge in buying of dairy products in the beginning and as people stock up, that surge is slowly going down,” according to Schulte, “just know that our dairy farmers work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they continue to produce milk every day. We do have a readily available supply of dairy products.”
Schulte says the challenge the industry is facing is oversupply — and that has producers looking for a home for their products. “These processors and co-ops are evaluating on a case by case scenario. As they deal with the disruption in the supply chain, they’ll make the decision on whether they may have periodically dispose of milk to adjust that supply or not,” Schulte says.
Schulte says on the positive side, retail demand for milk, cheese, butter and ice cream is up. Industry estimates say sales are as much as 60 percent higher than this same period last year.
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