Iowa basketball: Cook, Wieskamp recieve Big Ten postseason awards
By Andrew Wade
After finishing the season in disappointing fashion, the Iowa basketball team received a jolt of good news with Big Ten postseason honors being announced.
The Hawks struggled down the stretch, and most Iowa basketball fans are rightfully frustrated by the performance of this team. Yesterday afternoon, however, the Big Ten announced postseason awards and there were a few Hawks who made the list. It was a much-needed boost good mojo for the Iowa basketball team.
Five players in all were announced as recipients of Big Ten honors, and we correctly predicted four of the five players to be listed.
Tyler Cook
Star forward Tyler Cook took him the top honors being named Second Team All-Big Ten (by the media) and Third Team All-Big Ten (by the coaches) a year after receiving Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and flirting with the NBA as a sophomore.
Although Cook’s performance has waned the last two games, he still finished 11th in the Big Ten in scoring with 15 points per game while shooting 53% from the field in addition to finishing 6th in the Big Ten in rebounding with 8.1 rebounds per game.
Jordan Bohannon
Clutch three-point shooting point guard Jordan Bohannon took him Third Team All-Big Ten honors by the coaches and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors by the media despite turning in his worst statistical performance of his Iowa basketball career. Although as we noted in our prediction article, Bohannon’s propensity to come up big in big moments would weigh heavily on voter’s minds.
Luka Garza
Center Luka Garza also received Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors by the media after having an up and down performance as a sophomore. When Garza was on, he was on, but way too often the 6’11’ center disappeared entirely from games. In six of his last nine games, Garza didn’t even top double digits and despite being one of the tallest players in the league, he averaged a meager 4.6 rebounds per game.
Joe Wieskamp
It was no surprise that star freshman Joe Wieskamp ended up on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team after a fantastic first season in Iowa City. Wieskamp averaged 11 points per game on a solid 49% shooting percentage from the field and an absurd 43% shooting percentage from behind the arc. He also finished second on the team in rebounds per game with 4.8
Stats notwithstanding, he also came up huge in big moments like his game-winning shot against Rutgers.
The future is incredibly bright for Joe Wieskamp, and this is just the start of some big things to come.
Nicholas Baer
Last but not least is senior utility player Nicholas Baer. A former walk-on, Baer turned himself into an indispensable piece of the Iowa basketball team. Baer led the team in steals and blocks while finishing third in rebounds despite coming off the bench as the sixth man.
While his statistical production was solid throughout the year, and Iowa basketball fans love the intensity he brings every night, Nicholas Baer was not honored by the Big Ten for that. He was honored by the Big Ten with the Sportsmanship Award.
As we noted in our prediction article, the Iowa basketball team experienced a decent amount of team success despite what the end of the season slide would suggest, but individually, no one player stood out throughout the season. Next year, however, if Cook returns, I expect to see an Iowa basketball player on the first team with a few joining the second and third teams.