Luka Garza credits Fran McCaffery for making Iowa his choice
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The more Luka Garza heard and saw for himself about the Iowa men’s basketball program, the more he liked it.
Enough to where Garza ended his recruitment on Saturday by announcing on Twitter that he had verbally committed to Iowa.
The 6-foot-10 Garza committed while taking an unofficial visit to Iowa City this weekend. It was his third visit to Iowa City in less than a year. Garza took an official visit to Iowa in May.
His relationship with the Iowa players and coaches, especially head coach Fran McCaffery, helped convince Garza to pick Iowa over a host of scholarship offers from schools that include Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh among others.
McCaffery was one of the first to offer Garza a scholarship as a high school sophomore. They have since built a strong relationship.
"I’ve been on three visits and got a better understanding of the players more and more each time," Garza said Sunday. "Coach McCaffery and I have been building a relationship for a long time. As you know, he offered me before a lot of other people during my sophomore year. We had a chance to build a really strong relationship so that was kind of the deciding factor. I had a better relationship with the coaching staff (at Iowa) than I did at any other school."
Garza, who attends the Maret Academy in Washington D.C., cancelled a recruiting trip to Georgia that had been scheduled for this weekend in order to visit Iowa City.
His relationship with McCaffery extends to the court where Garza likes how McCaffery plans to use him.
"Coach McCaffery really understands my game," said Garza, who is ranked by Rivals as a three-star recruit. "As soon as he saw me he realized exactly what I could do and how I could fit in.
"He thinks he can utilize my ability to go inside and out, my passing skills and my offensive versatility. With the pieces we have and are adding I think it’s a great fit and I’m excited."
Garza also mentioned that Iowa sophomore forward Nicholas Baer reached out to him several times over the summer. Baer’s interest made an impression.
Garza joins Iowa City West guard Connor McCaffery as players committed to Iowa’s 2017 recruiting class. Connor mcCaffery is Fran McCaffery’s son.
Iowa currently only has one scholarship available for the 2017 recruiting class, but Connor McCaffery said he would consider joining the team as a walk-on next season or perhaps pursue an academic scholarship.
Garza was one of two basketball recruits in town over the weekend. Indiana native Jack Nunge, who used to live in Coralville, was on an official visit to Iowa this weekend.
Proud to be a part of the family! #HAWKEYENATION ???????? @IowaHoops pic.twitter.com/ECngWSxzDD
— Luka Garza (@LukaG_55) September 10, 2016
We will update this story later.