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Iowa basketball: Megan Gustafson continues her award winning ways

By Andrew Wade

IOWA CITY, IA - FEBRUARY 08: Matching Nike shoes worn by members of the Iowa Hawkeyes during their match-up against the Maryland Terrapins at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 8, 2015 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IA - FEBRUARY 08: Matching Nike shoes worn by members of the Iowa Hawkeyes during their match-up against the Maryland Terrapins at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 8, 2015 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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Women’s Iowa basketball player Megan Gustafson is continuing to rack in the awards after finishing her Hawk’s career last Monday.

Megan Gustafson has been flat out dominant this year leading the NCAA in points per game and shooting percentage, and double-doubles while finishing third in the NCAA in rebounds per game for an Iowa women’s basketball team that just advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1993.

While many Iowa basketball fans expected her to win a few postseason awards, after news broke that she was not a unanimous All-American, there was a little bit of pessimism in her ability to take home National Player of the Year honors. It seemed for a second that mainstream media couldn’t get behind the idea that a small-town, lightly recruited girl from Wisconsin playing for an Iowa basketball team that is not one of the main women’s basketball powerhouses.

That, however, was all squashed yesterday when Gustafson took home AP Player of the Year honors, the first women’s Iowa basketball player to ever do so.

Her reaction was honestly amazing.

The tireless worker did quite a number on the record books this year setting the Big Ten single-season record in points and rebounds with 1,001 points and 481 rebounds. Gustafson is just the fourth player ever to reach the 1,000 point mark in a season. Furthermore, she set the all-time Big Ten record for career rebounds with 1,460.

On the very same day as she received this news, she also took home the Lisa Leslie Award for the nation’s top center, beating out the likes of Baylor’s Kalani Brown. Yet another trophy in her trophy case.

The senior center and likely future WNBA player already has the 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year award, First Team AP All-American, First Team All-Big Ten, and Defensive All-Big Team awards from this season.

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All that is left for her in her collegiate career is to take home the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year award, which will be announced April 6th.