By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – I’ll be honest.

I’ve never been a big fan of retiring jersey numbers because if you retire too many, you eventually will run out of numbers, and it also takes away some of the mystique.

The Iowa men’s basketball program has retired eight numbers, including all five starters on the “Fabulous Five” from the mid-1950s, and one jersey, which is B.J. Armstrong’s jersey No. 10.

The other retired numbers are Ronnie Lester’s No.12, Chris Street’s No. 40 and Greg Stokes’ No. 41.

Lester and Stokes are two of the greatest players in program history, while Street was on the verge of greatness when he was killed in an automobile accident midway through his junior season in 1993.

The five starters on the Fabulous Five – Bill Logan, Carl Cain, Bill Seaberg, Bill Schoff and Sharm Scheuerman – led Iowa as seniors to a runner-up finish in the 1956 NCAA Tournament.

Iowa lost to Bill Russell and the University of San Francisco 83-71 in the national title game.

Russell was the dominant center in college basketball at the time, and now 65 years later Iowa has who many believe is the dominant center in college basketball in 6-foot-11 senior Luka Garza.

Some also believe that Garza’s number, or at least his jersey No. 55, should be retired, including Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, who called it a no-brainer when asked about it Tuesday on a zoom conference.

Fran McCaffery was asked specifically if Garza’s number should be retired.

“That will happen,” Fran McCaffery said. “It’s a question of when. Well-deserved. I’ll look forward to that moment. So will he and his family.

“I think right now his focus is not on that, but I appreciate the question. It will happen, without a doubt.”

When told what Fran McCaffery said about retiring his number, Garza was asked for his thoughts.

“That’s a dream come true,” Garza said. “When I came to the university, I don’t think if you told me then that I would be in a position to have my jersey retired, I would’ve told you you’re crazy. I wanted to work as hard as I could and play as hard as I could. But for that to happen, it’s truly special.

“This place has given me so much, I just hope I’ve given half as much back.”

When compared to the other players whose numbers or jersey have been retired, Garza has a strong case from an an individual productivity standpoint.  He is Iowa’s all-time leading scorer with 2,166 points and considered by many the favorite to win National Player of the Year.

The only area where Garza comes up short right now compared to Lester, Armstrong and the Fabulous Five is team accomplishments.

Lester led Iowa to its last share of a Big Ten title in 1979, and to the NCAA Final Four as a senior in 1980, while Armstrong was a key member of Iowa’s 1986-87 team that advanced to the Elite Eight.

Garza, on the other hand, has only won one NCAA Tournament game as a Hawkeye, although, Iowa didn’t have a chance to win any NCAA Tournament games last season because the event was canceled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Fifth-ranked Iowa is a lock to make this year’s NCAA Tournament, and would’ve almost certainly made last year’s NCAA Tournament after having made it the year before.

So without the pandemic, Iowa would’ve made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with Garza starting at center.

Iowa is currently 18-7 overall and 12-6 in the Big Ten heading into Thursday’s game against Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Greg Stokes was a tremendous player for Iowa from 1981-85, and is fifth on the Iowa’s all-time scoring list with 1,768 points. He also had a 6.7 career rebounding average and blocked 228 shots.

But Stokes wasn’t as dominant, or as celebrated as Garza has been at Iowa.

So how do you not retire Garza’s number?

It does almost seem like a no-brainer based on the numbers that already have been retired at Iowa.

Street’s situation is unique because the decision to retire his number goes beyond just what he accomplished as a player.

So even though I’m not a big fan of retiring numbers, I’d be willing to make an exception with Garza, partly because of what he has accomplished, but also because of the numbers that already have been retired.

It also helps that Garza has been a positive influence in so many ways, from his work ethic to his leadership and high character.

“A guy that’s always first in the gym and last one out,” Iowa walk-on senior guard Austin Ash said of Garza. “I spent many weekends in here with him, especially freshman year and sophomore year, just grinding and working on getting better and trying to turn this program in the right direction, which it has.”