(Radio Iowa) — Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands has been named the national coach of the year. Brands was honored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association after leading the Hawkeyes to a 13-0 dual record and the Big Ten Tournament title. They were favored to win the national crown before the NCAA Championships were cancelled.

Brands says this team was successful on the mat and in the classroom.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police in Omaha say a large gathering for a barbecue in an Omaha park — despite an order that limits crowds to fewer than 10 people — ended in a fatal shooting at around 9:30-p.m. Tuesday. One of the victims was a former Denison-Schleswig athlete, 18-year old Waw Gach. Gach, whose family came to the U.S. from Sudan, died at a local hospital. Gach was member of the football and track and field teams during his year at Denison-Schleswig High School, in Denison.

The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Benson Park, where police say three people were wounded. The victims were found in the park’s parking lot and were taken to area hospitals. The other victims, including a 19-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl, suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

Police say they had been called earlier to the park to break up the gathering of about 100 people.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior Luka Garza has been named the recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. The announcement was made by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its sixth year recognizes the top center in Division I men’s college basketball. He is the first Hawkeye to win the award and the third Big Ten player to earn the honor.

“I have looked up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar my entire life,” Garza said. “To win an award in his name is a tremendous honor and one that I share with my family. I am incredibly grateful to have the coaching staff, group of teammates, and my family, which put me in position to win this award. Lastly, I’d like to thank the loyal support of Hawkeye Nation!”

No player was more dominant in the paint in 2019-20 than Garza. Last week, the 6-foot-11 center was the recipient of the NABC Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award.

“Luka Garza is a very intelligent player and it shows in his efficiency with the ball,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “To have 25 games with 20 points or more is no easy task and it proves the level of effort and focus he sustained throughout the season. Congratulations to Luka on this award and a remarkable junior year.”

Last month, six major news outlets named Garza as its national player of the year: Sporting News, Basketball Times, Stadium, Bleacher Report, FOX, and ESPN. He is the first Iowa men’s basketball player to earn national player of the year distinction. Garza was also a unanimous consensus first-team All-America selection. He joins former Hawkeyes Murray Wier (1948) and Charles Darling (1952) as the program’s only consensus first team All-Americans.

“I am extremely proud of Luka and our program,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “Knowing the amount of respect that Luka has for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, this award is incredibly special for Luka. No player in the country was as productive and consistent — against the quality of teams and players in the Big Ten — than Luka Garza in 2020,” added McCaffery. “It’s rewarding to watch a young man work and grow the way Luka has and to see the commitment he has to his teammates, to the program, and to his family.”

Garza (740 points and 305 rebounds) is one of three Big Ten players to ever to total 740+ points and 300+ rebounds in a single-season (Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994 and Purdue’s Joe Barry Carroll in 1979). He ranked second nationally with 12 20-point/10-rebound performances, 20-point games (25); third in total field goals made (287) and points per 40 minutes played (29.8), fifth in scoring (23.9), 10th in 30-point games (5), 19th in double-doubles (15) and offensive rebounds per game (3.58), and 34th in rebounding (9.8). His 15 double-doubles are third most in a single-season by a Hawkeye in three decades and the most since 2002 (Reggie Evans, 18). Garza averaged 26.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 12 games against AP ranked opponents in 2019-20, including recording 11 straight 20-point performances, the longest streak by any player since UConn’s Kemba Walker in 2011.

The Big Ten and USBWA District VI Player of the Year, finished the 20-game conference schedule averaging 26.2 points per game, becoming the first player to average at least 26 points in Big Ten play since Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994 (31.1 ppg). Garza scored a school-record 740 points this season, breaking the program’s 50-year old record previously set by John Johnson in 1970. He scored 20 points or more in a school-record 16 straight Big Ten games, the longest streak by any player in the Big Ten since Ohio State’s Dennis Hopson 16 in 1987.

Garza is the only Big Ten player to register seven 25-point/10-rebound performances in the same season in more than 17 years. He has produced the two highest point totals in a game by a Big Ten player this season (44 at Michigan; 38 at Indiana).

LUKA GARZA HONORS (2019-20)

• Sporting News, Basketball Times, Stadium, Bleacher Report, FOX, and ESPN National Player of the Year
• Dick Vitale, Seth Davis, Andy Katz’s National Player of the Year
• Unanimous Consensus First-Team All-America
• NABC Pete Newell Big Man of the Year
• Naismith Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year
• Big Ten Men’s Basketball Player of the Year
• USBWA District VI Player of the Year
• Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, and Lute Olson Award finalist

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell supports athletic director Jamie Pollard’s decision to cut coaches salaries and eliminate bonuses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Pollard announced the plan last week to make up for a five million dollar loss following the cancellation of the Big 12 and NCAA basketball tournaments.

Campbell says it was a move to benefit the entire department.

Campbell says he met with his staff to discuss the plan.

Campbell says he has been going over different possibilities for what the preseason might look like but has not even thought about the possibility of not having a season.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — They are cities defined by iconic sporting events. When Augusta comes up, one instantly thinks of the Masters. If Omaha is mentioned, it’s often in the same breath with the College World Series. Same for Louisville and the Kentucky Derby. For those cities and others such as Williamsport, Oklahoma City and Cheyenne, the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic is an especially wrenching blow. Augusta was supposed to host golf’s first major championship this week. But the Masters has been put off until at least November, dealing the Georgia city a huge financial blow. Others are facing the same predicament.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Hamilton got a World Series ring after playing nearly half a season with the St. Louis Cardinals when they won the 2011 championship. The 35-year-old Hamilton is now about to enter a different lineup. He’s set to graduate medical school in New York this week. The next stop for the rookie doctor will be joining the front-line fight against the coronavirus pandemic in one of the world’s hardest-hit areas. Hamilton says he’s prepared and ready for whatever the job will be. Hamilton played 47 games in the majors, mostly as a pinch hitter and fill-in first baseman.

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Obi Toppin of Dayton won the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s outstanding college basketball player. Toppin, along with Saddiq Bey of Villanova, Luka Garza of Iowa, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Peyton Pritchard of Oregon, also earned positional awards from the Basketball Hall of Fame. The winners were announced on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” broadcast. They are usually honored at the College Basketball Awards in Los Angeles, but the ceremony was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The awards named for some of college basketball’s greatest players were decided by their namesakes and fan voting.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Ohio State assistant Carrie Banks is the new women’s basketball coach at Omaha. Athletic director Trev Alberts announced her hiring Tuesday. Banks was an assistant and recruiting coordinator four seasons with the Buckeyes. She replaces Brittany Lange, who was fired last month after seven seasons. Banks worked primarily with the post players at Ohio State and landed a top-five recruiting class in 2019. The Buckeyes won Big Ten regular-season championships twice and the conference tournament once during her time in Columbus. Banks previously was an assistant at Northwestern, South Florida and Detroit Mercy. She graduated from Detroit Mercy in 2000.

Iowa’s Riley Till has entered the transfer portal.

The former Wahlert Catholic standout joins his former high school teammate Cordell Pemsl in announcing intentions to leave the Hawkeyes.

Till was a former walk-on that had earned a scholarship this past season for the Hawks and played in 18 games this past season and scored 12 points and had 14 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He made an appearance in 42 total games in his career.

Till will be a senior this upcoming season and will graduate to have immediate eligibility next season.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — IndyCar has adjusted its schedule again because of the coronavirus pandemic. The doubleheader at Detroit scheduled for the end of May has now been canceled. IndyCar will make up the two dates by hosting doubleheaders at both Iowa Speedway and Laguna Seca in California. The series will also add an October race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to give it 15 events on the 2020 calendar. The season was suspended 48 hours before the opening race. IndyCar is now tentatively scheduled to start its season June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway.

(Radio Iowa) — The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic will remain July ninth through the 12th near the Quad Cities. The Tour released a revised schedule that includes the Masters moving to November. Clair Peterson is tournament director of the John Deere Classic.

With the British Open the following week cancelled Peterson expects a lot more of the tour regulars to play in the tournament.

Peterson says all the tournaments are in a wait and see mode and several in May and June could be forced to move again.