Iowa’s Garza named AP men’s player of the year

INDIANAPOLIS » Luka Garza knew what everyone expected before returning for a final run as Iowa’s unquestioned star.

Pressure? Garza felt it, all right, enough to know his mental health required the same attention as his game.

“I needed meditation to lean on, to be able to mainly just go out there and be myself and not worry about anything else,” Garza said.

That best explains why the 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior is The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year after finishing second last season. He was the runaway choice for the award announced Thursday, receiving 50 of 63 votes from AP Top 25 voters.

Garza ranked second nationally by averaging 24.1 points with 8.7 rebounds. He improved shooting percentages across the board — including going from 36% on 3-pointers last year to 44%.

Garza led the Hawkeyes to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, then accounted for nearly half their points (36 of 80) in a second-round upset loss to Oregon. The native of Washington, D.C., finished as the career scoring leader (2,306) at Iowa, which will retire his No. 55 jersey.

“We may never see another one like him,” coach Fran McCaffery said.

Howard top coach

Michigan’s decision to hire Juwan Howard raised a few eyebrows. The former member of the Fab Five certainly had the coaching chops after spending six years as an assistant with the NBA’s Miami Heat. The question was whether he would be able to recruit.

Turns out, Howard can recruit and coach.

Howard was named The Associated Press men’s college basketball coach of the year, receiving 35 of 63 votes from a national media panel.

The Wolverines reached the Elite Eight, but fell just short of their second Final Four the past three NCAA Tournaments with a 51-49 loss to UCLA.

Source: DePaul hires Stubblefield

CHICAGO » DePaul has hired longtime Oregon assistant Tony Stubblefield as head coach, hoping he can restore a struggling program, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Stubblefield is the first major hire for DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy since he took the job in August after 12 years in Kentucky’s athletic department.

Beard leaving

Texas Tech for Texas

AUSTIN, TEXAS » Chris Beard is leaving Texas Tech for the job at Big 12 rival Texas.

Beard said he was “thrilled and excited” to be returning to Austin, where he was a student assistant under coach Tom Penders. Beard will be formally introduced at a Friday news conference on the UT campus.