Basketball Notebook: It's 'Business As Usual' For Hawkeyes

Fran McCaffery said it is "business as usual" for Iowa as the Hawkeyes prepare for this weekend's Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.

The tournament, set for Wednesday-Sunday, is being played during a time when concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus have led to changes around the nation.

The Ivy League cancelled its tournament on Tuesday. The Big West and Mid-American Conference men's and women's tournaments will be played without spectators.

No changes have been announced by the Big Ten.

Asked if he had been involved in any discussion with Iowa officials or officials from the Big Ten, McCaffery said, "I'm sure there is communication going on, but I haven't had any. It's business as usual as far as I'm concerned."

The Hawkeyes were planning on practicing in Indianapolis on Wednesday, then watch some of the Northwestern-Minnesota first-round game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday night, since they play the winner of that game.

McCaffery played in the Ivy League at Penn, and later was an assistant coach there for one season.

The Ivy League didn't have a tournament when McCaffery was at Penn.

Yale will get the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament because of the cancellation of the event.

Asked what he would have thought if he was a coach in the conference, McCaffery said, "I wouldn't be happy.

"I think if you're sitting there and you're (Harvard coach) Tommy Amaker or (Penn coach) Stevie Donahue or (Princeton coach) Mitch Henderson, you're not happy. All due respect to my good friend James Jones at Yale who is a terrific coach and has had a phenomenal year, they're the No. 1 seed and they probably were going to win it anyway, but Harvard just beat them. You look at a team like Penn who started the season beating Alabama, and then they beat Providence. They stumble a little bit, come back, finish strong. That's what we always talk about, right? You want to finish strong and go into the tournament. In that league they only bring four teams, so have to win two games. So, I'm quite certain that I would be outspoken about it if I was coaching in that league right now."

Garza, Wieskamp honored

Iowa center Luka Garza added more awards to his collection on Tuesday.

Garza, who was named the Big Ten's player of the year on Monday, was named the national player of the year by Sporting News on Tuesday, becoming the first player in program history to earn national player of the year honors from a news outlet.

Garza was also named the United States Basketball Writers Association District VI player of the year. Garza and sophomore guard Joe Wieskamp were named to the all-district team.

Garza is a finalist for five national awards — the Naismith Trophy, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Wooden Award, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, and the Lute Olson Award.

Doyle receives academic honor

Iowa women's basketball player Kathleen Doyle was named a second-team academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Doyle, who was the Big Ten's player of the year, is a double major in journalism & mass communications and Spanish and has a 3.83 cumulative GPA. She was also a 2018-19 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.

Doyle also was selected Tuesday as one of five finalists for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s top shooting guard.