The Daily Iowan - 02.22.2021

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GARZA PASSES MARBLE On Sunday, Iowa center Luka Garza broke Roy Marble’s 32-year-old Hawkeye men’s basketball scoring record, the latest accomplishment in a career full of them.

Hannah Kinson/The Daily Iowan Iowa center Luka Garza shoots a record-breaking basket with eight minutes left of a men’s basketball game against Penn State on Sunday at Carver Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes defeated the Nittany Lions, 74-68. Garza broke the record to become Iowa men’s all-time leading scorer with a career total of 2,126 points.

BY ROBERT READ

robert-read@uiowa.edu Luka Garza is a self-described basketball nerd. That explains why, as a kid, he would sit in his basement and immerse himself in his father’s VHS tapes, studying the game’s greats, including Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. When he became a Hawkeye, Garza added another name to his basketball homework: Roy Marble.

Marble, a star guard on the Iowa men’s basketball team from 1985-89, became the program’s all-time leading scorer in 1989. For more than 32 years, the 2,116 points he scored as a Hawkeye have been the program’s standard.

So, when Garza arrived at the University of Iowa, he had already known whose shoes had run up and down the court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Wherever I’m at,” Garza said, “I’m going to want to know the history of who played there.”

On Sunday, past and present converged, and Garza made history himself.

In the second half of Iowa’s victory over Penn State in front of a nearly empty home arena, senior point guard Jordan Bohannon lobbed a pass as Garza slid toward the basket, and Garza dropped the ball over the front of the rim for two points.

The shot moved Garza to the top of the program’s all-time scoring leaderboard. The 566 fans and family members in attendance responded with a standing ovation, trying their best

UI COVID-19 NUMBERS Number of self-reported cases for COVID-19 Students: 9 new cases, 2,991 to-date Employees: 1 within the past week, 437 to-date New cases as of Feb. 17, 2021.

Source: UI COVID-19 campus update

INSIDE

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to emulate a packed Carver crowd of 15,500.

Garza pointed to the sky as he jogged to the other side of the court. Marble died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 48.

“It’s truly an honor to even be in the same sentence as a

It’s truly an honor to even be in the same sentence as a guy like [Marble].

— Iowa center Luka Garza guy like [Marble],” Garza said postgame. “To pass him, that’s something I never could have dreamed of. All the credit to this goes to the coaching staff here, Fran McCaffery for recruiting me, all the teammates I’ve had, my family, and the coaches I’ve had through the course of my career who have taught me the game of basketball.

“That is who got me to this position. I’m really lucky to be in the situation that I’m in.”

For Garza, breaking Iowa’s scoring record is just the latest accomplishment in a career full of them — arguably the best career of any men’s player in program history. But the humble reaction to the honor isn’t an act.

It’s Garza being Garza.

And that approach along his basketball journey led to Garza toppling a record that once seemed unreachable.

High school standout — on and off the court In the first half of the 2017 District of Columbia Boys’ Basketball Championship Game on the court of the Charles E. Smith Center at George Washington University, Maret School’s head coach Chuck Driesell approached his star center, who had just taken an elbow to the head when an opposing player tried to block his shot.

“Why are you taking me out, coach?” Driesell recalls Garza saying.

“Luka, your face is covered with blood,” Driesell responded.

“You’ve got to come out. We’ve got to take a look at it.”

In the final game of his high school career, Garza needed a dozen stitches to mend a wound in order for him to return to the court. That’s no surprise to Iowa fans who witnessed Garza take a shot to the lip in 2019 against Texas Tech (then return and produce a 17-point effort), causing blood to stream down his face.

Less than 10 minutes later, Garza was back in the championship game.

And why wouldn’t he be? Garza had held a basketball in his hands by the time he was a toddler. He loved the game from the start. His father, Frank Garza, had played college basketball at Idaho, and his mother, Sejla Garza, had played professionally in Europe.

SEE GARZA, 3

Vaccines still effective against different COVID-19 strains And other answers to questions about the COVID-19 vaccines in Iowa.

BY SARAH WATSON

sarah-e-watson@uiowa.edu

Local therapy dogs serve at a distance

Joy Miller’s therapy dog Milo has spent the past year offering service to Oaknoll Retirement Residence through window visits. On Wednesday, he returned into the nursing home for the first time since last February.

2021

Tune in for LIVE updates Watch for campus and city news, weather, and Hawkeye sports coverage every day at dailyiowan.com.

As Iowa ramps up its distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, The Daily Iowan sat down with vaccine trial lead and Executive Dean of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Patricia Winokur to answer questions about the vaccines available, their effectiveness, and new strains of COVID-19.

Iowa ranks near the middle of all other states for percent of population with the first dose administered, with 13.6 percent of the state receiving the first dose, according to the Washington Post’s vaccine tracker, but fourth from last in completed vaccination, at 4.5 percent of the state’s population.

Iowa has two vaccines available — Moderna and Pfizer — to people ages 65 and older and in addition to people in high-risk professions. The Iowa Department of Public Health put together a priority group recommendation for people to receive the vaccine.

Currently health care workers, first responders, K-12 education staffers, agriculture distribution and manufacturing workers, individuals with disabilities in group home settings, those living in congregate settings (not including college residence halls), government officials, health- and child-safety inspectors and correctional facility staff, and individuals incarcerated are eligible for the vaccine in a five-tiered system of priority.

Iowa is delivered an allotment of vac-

Hannah Kinson/The Daily Iowan A member of UIHC staff fills needles with the Moderna vaccine on Jan. 29 at the UI Medical Education Research Facility. cines from the federal government, Winokur said, which is then distributed to county public health departments and allocated to health care facilities and other vaccine distributors in the county. In Johnson County, UI Health Care, Mercy Iowa City, and some area pharmacies are offering appointments for the vaccine, though a decentralized process has meant difficult planning and spurious

appointments for Iowans. Iowa City Veterans Affairs hospital doles out a separate federal allotment of the vaccine to area veterans.

How does the vaccine work?

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the two approved for emergency authorization by the FDA as of now, are called

mRNA vaccines. Explained in basic terms by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mRNA is instructions for the cell on how to make part of the spike protein that prompts the immune system to make antibodies that fight against a future coronavirus infection.

“So, the vaccines that we have that SEE VACCINE, 2

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

Sid Peterson/The Daily Iowan Ryan Finn, a co-owner of Ulysses Modern is seen examining a vintage watch behind the counter on Sunday. Finn and his wife Clara opened the vintage shop on Gilbert Street last October. Finn is passionate for mid-century modern design and furnishings.

Office of Sustainability to expand prairie research area After receiving new funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ashton Research Prairie will add six acres this spring.

BY MARCO OCEGUERA

marco-oceguera@uiowa.edu The Ashton Research Prairie will undergo a six-acre expansion this spring, with new funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Located on the Ashton Cross Country Course, the Ashton Research Prairie was originally created as a part of a larger effort to restore Iowa’s prairieland, which once thrived in the state.

Now, Iowa has less than

0.01 percent of its pre-1840 native Tallgrass Prairie.

University of Iowa Director of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment Stratis Giannakouros said the intention was always to expand the prairie after launching an

Ryan Adams/The Daily Iowan Ashton Cross Country Course and Recreation area is seen on Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa.

VACCINE CONTINUED FROM FRONT we’re evaluating in the United States and those that we have emergency-use authorization — all are based off of showing your immune system the spike protein,” Winokur said. “And the spike protein is that protein that sits on the outside of the coronavirus, and that’s the main protein that your immune system recognizes to develop antibodies and other cells that protect you from future infections.”

Winokur said one myth about the COVID-19 vaccine is that the vaccine changes your DNA — it doesn’t. After the spike protein is made, the cell breaks down and disposes of the mRNA strand, and never enters the cell’s nucleus or affects genetic material.

Could I still be infected by COVID-19 if I’ve had one or both doses of a vaccine?

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both near 95-percent effectiveness in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, Winokur said, and there are early indications that the vaccines also prevent transmission.

“It [the vaccine] is probably preventing infections completely,” Winokur said. “The data is still being worked out. We know it prevents people from getting symptomatic COVID-19 — that was the primary endpoint that the FDA wanted the companies to show. That’s where the 95-percent efficacy is. But we’re starting to get inklings of different ways that we are seeing that it reduces infections as well.”

About two weeks after the first dose, the vaccine is between 60-80 percent effective, Winokur said. But the second dose seals the 95 percent effectiveness.

What about with the COVID-19 variants, such as ones prominent in the U.K. or South Africa?

Iowa confirmed cases of a more easily transmissible variant of the coronavirus from the U.K. earlier this month. Winokur said, as researchers have gathered preliminary data from vaccine distribution in South Africa, where another variant is prominent, vaccines seem to be less effective. For example, Winokur said, researchers found one vaccine from Johnson and Johnson that is expected to receive emergency authorization in the coming weeks to be in the 72-percent efficacy range when tested in the U.S. That efficacy dropped into the low 60-percent range in South Africa, however.

“The vaccines have less efficacy in the South African region where this variant is prominent,” Winokur said. “It is not complete — they still have some efficacy, but it is not as good as against the original strains that were the targets for those vaccines.”

She emphasized, though, that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine still did a good job of preventing severe illness from COVID-19. During surges of severe COVID-19 cases, hospitals have warned that too many patients in the ICU can overwhelm health care facilities and result in preventable deaths.

When will I be able to hug my loved ones who are at risk?

The date of returning to “normalcy” is elusive, Winokur said.

Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, told CNN to expect a “significant degree of normality” by fall, but that people could still be expected to wear face masks in public as long as a year from now.

Public health experts have said that, to squelch the pandemic, the country would need to reach herd immunity, which is when a large enough share of the population is immune to the virus to prevent transmission.

For people who have been vaccinated, Winokur said public health experts are recommending the continuation of wearing masks to curb the spread of variants and normalization of masking.

“What we are telling people who have been vaccinated is don’t let your guard down,” she said. “Remember, not everybody is vaccinated, you are setting yourself up as a role model.”

Where can I get the vaccine?

Iowa health officials have warned that there is not enough vaccine for everyone eligible to be vaccinated in priority group 1B right now.

Anyone in Iowa can fill out a form on the UIHC website to express interest in receiving the vaccine. Mercy Iowa City is distributing the vaccine to those eligible by contacting eligible patients.

initial test run planting on a smaller plot of land.

“In order for it to be a research-valuable parcel of land, it always had to be at least five acres,” Giannakouros said.

“So that first little bit we started a year ago was really for us to test the physical planting.”

Giannakouros said the expansion, which will increase the size of the one-acre prairieland by five acres, will provide greater opportunity for the community to connect with the state’s native environment and for UI students to directly study wildlife.

Giannakouros said that, while the EPA is funding much of the project’s expansion, the UI Athletics Department has also played a vital role in making the plan a reality by providing additional funding and land for the prairie to be planted.

“When you have labor that’s out there mowing, or you know, putting down some weed killer, things like that cost money that athletics is just paying,” Giannakorous said. “The project wouldn’t work unless they were putting According to the Iowa Department of Public Health website, there are eight locations not including UIHC or Mercy that offer the vaccine.

Six are area Hy-Vees and two — North Liberty Pharmacy and Towncrest Pharmacy — are local pharmacies.

As of Sunday afternoon, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids Hy-Vee locations had no appointments available online.

CVS pharmacy, too, offers but did not have any appointments available for COVID-19 vaccines at its Cedar Rapids location.

Debunking COVID-19 vaccine myths No, the vaccine does not cause fertility issues and no, the vaccine does not change your DNA, Winokur said of two vaccine myths she’s seen circling the internet.

“We have done animal studies looking at fertility, and we now have vaccines that have gone out into the population,” Winokur said. “About 20,000 women who are pregnant have gotten the vaccine, and we have not seen any problems with those pregnancies.”

She added, as for the DNA-changing myth, the mRNA is broken down so quickly it won’t get into any coding areas of the body.

“One of the nice things about these messenger RNA vaccines is the messenger RNA is very transient. It is destroyed very quickly.”

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in time and effort.”

Brad Cramer, an associate professor in the UI Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said his department also recently got involved with the expansion, seeing the prairie as an opportunity to strengthen academic programs currently offered at the university.

“The question recently was, how can we turn the entire prairie project into a living laboratory for courses across campus?” Cramer said.

Cramer said the expansion of the prairieland will benefit many departments and programs throughout campus, including his own.

Megan Lenss, prarie projcet intern at the Office of Sustainability, said she is excited about the academic opportunities the prairie will provide for students with less access to the rare resource.

“Fieldwork is something that is inaccessible, because it’s expensive and you have to

travel,” Lenss said. “[With the prairie], we can do fieldwork and physical research locally, and you don’t have to buy fancy gear, and you don’t have to travel far.”

Cramer added that he is hopeful about the new opportunities that the prairie expansion will create for students.

“Instead of talking about things in principle, we can actually have students go and do it for real, out on the prairie,” he said.

Lenss said the prairie also importantly provides the community with the chance to connect with a biologically diverse terrain that has virtually disappeared.

“It is incredible and unrecognized, and people don’t know what they’re missing because it’s been wiped out,” Lenss said. “We’re putting this in student and community spaces so that we can all interact with it, and I think that is amazing.”

allergy? Should I still get the vaccine?

there’s not a risk to people with pollen or ragweed allergies.

“Seasonal allergies to ragweed or pollen — those are not the types of allergic histories that make us most worried,” Winokur said. “It’s really peo-

Allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine is very rare, Winokur said, and the few recorded cases have been in

Seasonal allergies to ragweed or pollen — those are not the types of allergic histories that make us most worried.

— Executive Dean of the University of Iowa Carver College Medicine Patricia Winokur people who had a history of anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction. About 60 cases have been reported in the U.S., and

ple who’ve had anaphylaxis to different compounds — and especially if you’ve had anaphylaxis to a previous vaccine.”

3 NEWS

THE DAILY IOWAN | DAILYIOWAN.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 his fading appetite.

Garza unknowingly played his freshman season with an abnormal growth but didn’t complain about pain in his abdomen. Garza underwent a CT scan, revealing a ninepound cyst on his spleen.

“We didn’t know what was going to be under the cyst,” Frank Garza said. “It could be a tumor.

Basketball wasn’t even a question.

It was, ‘Will he live?’ If they went in there and ruptured the cyst, he would die because David Harmantas/The Daily Iowan the fluids would Iowa’s Luka Garza goes for the rebound during his first game against Chicago State University on Nov. 10, 2017. The Hawkeyes drain. There was a defeated the Cougars 95-62. gallon and a half of toxic poison inside his cyst.”

Frank Garza started making on-two, three-on-three stuff ‘Luke’ Garza’s road to Iowa and I remember he was a really calls. He reached out to the Mayo intense, competitive guy,” Baer Clinic and to hospitals around CONTINUED FROM FRONT City said. “You could tell that he was a Washington, D.C. — anywhere Garza had transformed Garza still remembers being guy who loved to play basketball his son could get the operation.

“And everyone kept saying, himself from a freshman av- named to ESPN’s top-100 re- and compete at a high level.”

By the time Garza visited Io- ‘Well, there’s this town in Ioeraging four points per game to cruiting rankings for the class of the Gatorade D.C. Boys’ Basket- 2017. He was ranked No. 100. wa City again in September of wa,’” Frank Garza said. “And Rather, “Luke Garza” was. His 2016, some larger programs had they didn’t know I had a kid who ball Player of the Year as a senior.

In large part, that was thanks to name had been misspelled. taken an interest, including No- played at Iowa. It’s sort of magiBut ESPN wasn’t alone in tre Dame and Georgetown. But cal how that worked out.” boot camp-like training sessions overlooking Garza. As a junior Garza remained loyal to the proDr. James Howe performed in Hawaii with his father.

By the time Garza was play- and senior in high school, Gar- gram and the coach that’d been successful surgery to remove the ing in his last game of his high za received more than two doz- interested since the beginning. tumor — which was benign — While on his September re- on Garza on Sept. 7, 2018. It was school career, he was the school’s en scholarship offers, but some all-time leading scorer. Maret, programs expressed concerns cruiting trip, standing in the a nine-hour procedure, 5 1/2 of a K-12 school with less than 600 that Garza couldn’t move quick- south end zone of Kinnick Sta- which were under the knife.

Baer and a group of Garza’s students, faced off with Gonza- ly enough. Blue-blood programs dium, which was packed with ga, the No. 9 team in the country, including Duke and North Caro- 70,000 fans waiting to watch other teammates visited him in the district final. lina — or even nearby Maryland Iowa play Iowa State in the Cy- after the procedure but didn’t think about when the 6-11 center may be joining them on the court again.

Turns out, it was only six weeks. Garza returned to practice and played in the season-opener on Nov. 8, and a week later was named the MVP of the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden. But when Garza was starting to return to his full strength, a sprained ankle forced him out of the lineup for three games.

By season’s end, Iowa lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to second-seed Tennessee. The Hawkeyes fought back from a 21-point halftime deficit but couldn’t close out the game.

The next time Garza took to the court, he was the best player on it.

As a junior, he averaged 23.9 Hannah Kinson/The Daily Iowan points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.8 Iowa center Luka Garza shields the ball during a men’s basketball game between Iowa and Purdue at Carver blocks per game on his way to Hawkeye Arena on March 3, 2020. The Hawkeyes were defeated by the Boilermakers, 77-68. During this game being named the Big Ten Player Garza broke Iowa’s single-season scoring record. of the Year and becoming the first player in program history to Despite his head injury, Garza — didn’t extend an offer.

Hawk football game, Garza in- earn national player of the year But the Hawkeyes did. scored 37 points and grabbed 17 formed McCaffery that he was honors.

Ultimately, Garza, using his Garza played against Connor committing. rebounds in the championship dominance near the basket game. But Maret fell, 77-66, and McCaffery at a Nike Elite-100 The trips had sold him.

Garza was devastated. And that camp heading into his junior “We had numerous people and a precise 3-point stroke, encapsulates Garza. Both Drie- season of high school. come up who were very genu- would break Iowa’s 50-year-old Despite initially being a re- ine, authentic people,” Frank single-season scoring record sell and McCaffery described Garza after a loss as someone serve at the camp — meaning he Garza said. “Talking about being and was named a first-team who wishes he could have done would only compete if someone fifth-generation Iowans. See- All-American.

“He’s the epitome of Iowa more for his team. couldn’t make it — Garza end- ing people come from all corIn four years’ worth of press ed up taking the floor. And, al- ners of the state to support the basketball,” sophomore guard CJ conferences at Iowa, Garza is though coaches weren’t permit- Hawkeyes. That speaks volumes Fredrick said, noting that Garza is what every player in the proalways the first to take responsi- ted to attend, Fran McCaffery in our book.” bility after a loss, no matter how was an expectation because he gram strives to be. well he performed, and the first watched his son compete. So, he Life-saving surgery leads to Despite the opportunity to to brush off a personal accolade saw his future star play on the greatness earn a hefty salary overseas, Garsame court as his son. after a triumph. za announced in August of 2020 “We had to have a coach who Even after his high school Garza earned Iowa’s starting that he was returning to Iowa for career had ended, Garza had understood Luka’s game,” Frank center spot as a freshman with his senior season. But not so he formed a connection with the Garza said. “He had to under- the program and averaged 12.1 could break a scoring record. It Maret community, which is now stand that he’s the slowest guy points and 6.4 rebounds per was so he could return to a team often flooded with No. 55 jerseys out there, but he’s one of the best game in his first year as a Hawk- with March aspirations. on days when Iowa is scheduled players.” eye. to play.

But the team wasn’t as suc- Remember the name Iowa assistant coach SherDriesell said Garza is always man Dillard, who had coached cessful. the first person to ask about a Chuck Driesell at Maryland on Iowa went 14-19 over the On Dec. 7, 1985, McCaffery, person’s family or engage in a Lefty Driesell’s staff, reached out course of the 2017-18 season. That then a first-year coach at Lehigh, quick converwas more loss- led his team into Carver-Hawkes than Garza eye Arena to take on No. 18 Iowa. sation.

IOWA MEN’S TOP SCORERS OF ALL TIME had experi- The Hawkeyes won in a rout, and Beyond his 1. Luka Garza, 2,126 points, 2017-21 enced over his Marble, then a freshman, had time on the four-year high scored nine points. hardwood, 2. Roy Marble, 2,116 points, 1986-89 Garza was the On Sunday in the same venschool career.

3. Aaron White, 1,859 points, 2011-15 tallest viola Garza wasn’t ue, McCaffery stood courtside 4. Acie Earl, 1,779 points, 1990-93 player in the used to losing. as Garza broke Marble’s record, school’s orHe wouldn’t let then told him he loved him.

5. Greg Stokes, 1,768 points, 1982-85 that happen to “[Marble] would have apprecichestra — not 6. B.J. Armstrong, 1,705 points, 1986-89 Iowa again. ated Luka Garza in a number of exactly a metThat offsea- ways,” McCaffery said. “I think ric that’s usu7. Roy Devyn Marble, 1,694 points, 2011-14 ally kept. Drieson, his father he would have been a champion 8. Ronnie Lester, 1,675 points, 1977-80 sell recalled at times added for Luka, watching him grow and 9. Matt Gatens, 1,635 points, 2009-12 that Garza a third daily develop and fighting through adworkout to versity like he did his sophomore also served as 10. Jess Settles, 1,611 points, 1994-97, 1999 their program. year, and he would have loved a math tutor These workouts ranged from him and supported him. to middle-school students and to Maret shortly after the camp, at times read to younger classes curious about the school’s center. 3-point shooting drills on repeat “I wish he was here to see it.” as well.

McCaffery and Dillard made if Garza didn’t hit a satisfactory At the next media timeout So when Garza committed to plenty of visits after that, and percentage, to sliding back and following the record-breaking Iowa, those at Maret made sure Iowa became the first major forth with bricks in his hands to basket, a tribute played above Meto follow along. program to give Garza a chance. the point of exhaustion. diacom Court. After the game had Garza was setting himself up ended, and Garza’s 23 points gave “We all get around some peo- And he didn’t forget that.

On an official recruiting vis- for a breakout sophomore sea- him 2,126 for his career, the senior ple who we just feel deserve everything that comes their way it to Iowa City in 2016, Garza son, perhaps to the degree that looked up at the video board as because they work so hard, they stayed with Nicholas Baer, a would later be seen his junior another tribute appeared.

Congratulatory messages do it the right way, they are hum- former Hawkeye forward from year. But in August leading into ble, and they are a good person,” 2015-19 who is back with the pro- Garza’s second season, Frank from former Hawkeyes ranging Driesell said. “That’s Luka Gar- gram as a graduate assistant.

Garza watched his son work from Aaron White to Jess Settles za.”

“On his visit we played two- through discomfort and noticed played as Garza attempted to

GARZA

9/10/2016 Maret School center Luka Garza commits to the University of Iowa.

11/10/2017 Garza plays first game as a Hawkeye, scores 16 points.

2/28/2018 As a freshman, Luka scores 20 points in Iowa’s win over Illinois in the opening round of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament.

11/8/2018 Garza plays in the opener of his sophomore season only weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a nine-pound cyst from his abdomen.

3/22/2019 Garza scores 20 points in Iowa’s NCAA tournament victory over Cincinnati.

11/25/2019 Toward the start of his breakout junior season, Garza notches the first 30-point game of his career.

12/6/2019 Garza scores a career-high 44 points at Michigan, the most by any Iowa player since 1970.

3/3/2020 Garza breaks Iowa’s single-season scoring record, surpassing a 50-year-old mark held

by John Johnson.

8/2/2020 Garza announces he will return to Iowa for his senior season and pull his name out of the NBA Draft.

11/27/2020 Garza scores 36 points in the first half and 41 overall against Southern.

12/11/2020 Garza scores 34 points in 17 minutes in his final matchup against Iowa State.

2/2/2021 Becomes second Hawkeye men’s player ever to surpass 2,000 career points.

2/21/2021 Garza surpasses Roy Marble as the Iowa men’s basketball program’s all-time leading scorer. compose himself.

The video concluded with a message from Frank Garza, who had recorded himself at the park in Washington, D.C., where he and his son had spent countless hours practicing. The same court where Garza had dunked for the first time and would hop into pickup games.

Breaking the men’s scoring record was never a goal for Garza, and he didn’t return to Iowa for his senior season to score points. He did it to win a championship — to get back to March Madness, a place that had evaded him as a junior once the pandemic shut down the season.

“The fact that he [has] the scoring record, it’s sweet, it’s great — all that stuff,” Frank Garza said. “But what we want is the prize.”

Iowa sits at 17-6 on the season following Sunday’s win. Garza has done plenty of scoring too, leading the nation in that category. And in the process of becoming a scoring champion, Garza has — much like with his time at Maret — formed a relationship with the Iowa City community.

An economics major, Garza attacks his course work with the

same vigor he displays on the hardwood. In public, Garza can hardly show his face without being swarmed with fans. Whether it’s at Target and two young boys hurriedly buy basketballs so Garza could sign them, or in downtown Iowa City among his peers — Garza stays grounded.

“No one would realize he’s this superstar athlete,” Bohannon said. “He’s a person who treats everyone the way he wants to be treated. He respects everyone, treats his teammates like family.

He really cares about everyone around him. That’s the most important thing when you’re looking at Luka Garza.”

Garza is always sure to thank those around him for getting him to this point and emphasize that winning — especially in March — is what takes priority.

That’s Garza being Garza. And there’s no player quite like the 6-foot-11 center wearing No. 55 in the Black and Gold.

“People will remember his name for a long time to come,’ Driesell said.

And, after Sunday, if they look at the top of the Iowa men’s basketball program’s all-time scoring list, they’ll know how to spell it, too.

People will remember his name for a long time to come.

— Maret School’s head coach Chuck Driesell

4

Opinions THE DAILY IOWAN | DAILYIOWAN.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021

COLUMN

Contraceptions reduce abortions, not the reverse Iowa Republicans should aim for enhancing contraception access to minimize abortion.

BY GABE CONLEY

gabriel-conley@uiowa.edu Republican lawmakers in Des Moines are trying to amend the Iowa Constitution by removing its protections for Iowans seeking abortion. Constitutional protections have blocked previous anti-abortion laws in Iowa from being enacted in recent years, and Republicans are taking this step now to allow similar bills to be enforced.

Nonetheless, restrictions on women seeking abortion are not particularly effective in decreasing abortion rates.

A recent 18-state study demonstrated that the states with the most highly restrictive legislative climates are associated with just a 17 percent reduction in abortion rates.

Besides, if data from Texas is any indication, then we can

presume significant restrictions on abortion access in our state will result in a greater number of women leaving Iowa to have the procedures done in other states. Republicans need to realize that the best way to decrease abortion rates in Iowa is by focusing on reducing the rate of unintended pregnancy.

Abortion is chosen by a woman after she has contemplated several complex and interrelated factors, which differ from person to person. But in the end, abortion always represents a means to end an unwanted pregnancy.

Republican lawmakers don’t seem to understand that abortion is common largely because unintended pregnancy is common. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, and more than 40 percent of these unplanned pregnancies

end in termination. Compare this to the mere 8 percent of planned pregnancies that are aborted, and you will find a tremendous opportunity to save the unborn.

Studies have shown abortion rates are reduced when the most effective contraception is available at low or no cost to women. This is unsurprising, considering nearly all unintended pregnancies are the result of lacking or inconsistent contraception methods.

If reduced abortion rates are going to be the focus of our policymaking, then we should demand that our politicians enact measures to reduce our rate of unintended pregnancy.

However, Iowa Republicans have dumbfoundingly done the opposite in recent years.

In 2017, they decreased contraception access for tens of thousands of low-income

Iowans by eliminating the Iowa Family Planning Network.

This program was then replaced by a state-funded Family Planning Program that went on to be used by just a fraction of the Iowans that the previous program had served.

The Family Planning Program’s database for patients to find providers, which may well have been its most important feature, was plagued with errors. Among its issues were the inclusion of dermatologists, general surgeons, and other providers that didn’t actually offer family planning services.

It also redundantly listed the names of providers, some as many as six or seven times.

Anti-abortion lawmakers apparently don’t understand that unintended pregnancy drives abortion rates. Or maybe supercharging their political base with hot-button legislative

Ryan Adams/The Daily Iowan Daughter of House Speaker Pat Grassley, Reagan Grassley, gives the opening prayer before the opening of the 2021 legislative session on Jan. 11. at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. proposals is more important to than would statewide aborthem than creating policy that tion restrictions. Otherwise, it seems to me that Republicans balances reality with ideology.

Expanding access to effective are more interested in restrictcontraception for Iowans would ing Iowa women than decreasdo more to save the unborn ing abortion rates.

COLUMN

Paying collegiate athletes evens the playing field Iowa should pass SF 245, allowing for collegiate athletes to earn compensation from their name, image, and likeness.

BY SOPHIE STOVER

sophia-stover@uiowa.edu The NCAA has been notoriously stagnant when it comes to addressing the issue of whether college athletes should be able to profit off their name, image, and likeness. It’s not surprising that the governing body of collegiate athletics has no sense of urgency on this issue, considering how much money the NCAA makes off student athletes.

According to the NCAA, “name, image, and likeness,” are the three components of the right of publicity. Any situation where permission is obtained to use any of

them would fall under the right of publicity. Current NCAA rules prohibit student athletes from receiving payment based on use of their name, image, or likeness.

The current system results in the NCAA, universities, and other partners profiting in huge numbers, at the expense of student athletes.

In recent years, multiple states have bypassed the NCAA in moving to pass legislation allowing collegiate student athletes to be paid.

The states that have passed legislation include California, Florida, Colorado, New Jersey, Nebraska, and Michigan, with Iowa being the most recent to introduce

similar legislation. SF 245 should be passed through Iowa’s legislature which will allow athletes to profit off their own marketability.

Collegiate athletes deserve to make money off their name, image and likeness. Being a college athlete is a time commitment similar to a full-time job, regardless of the sport. Student athletes devote most of their time to either their sport or academics, leaving little time to earn spending money for themselves.

Both male and female athletes would benefit from the opportunity to profit off their marketability, but it may be especially import-

ant for women’s basketball.

As Iowa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark noted, many female athletes may have more opportunities in college that won’t be there at the professional level.

There are less opportunities for women to continue their sport professionally, leaving their college years as a prime time for optimizing marketability.

Leveling the playing field for all athletes to market themselves may bring an end to some corruption we’ve seen from collegiate athletics in recent years. In 2019, a well-known scandal in collegiate basketball included coaches and ex-Adi-

das executives conspiring to pay the families of top recruits, thus persuading them to attend an Adidas sponsored school. Allowing athletes to profit off their own marketability forces athletic apparel companies to make deals with athletes out in the open, creating more of a free market system.

As the NCAA continues to postpone action on the issue, and the federal government has its sights set on more pertinent issues like COVID-19, state governments have resorted to legislative action. Passing SF 245 is crucial for Iowa’s universities and athletes.

This bill will keep Iowa universities competitive in recruiting, while providing current student athletes with the best possible opportunities.

The bipartisan bill introduced by state Sens. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, and Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines gives Iowa the opportunity to be on the forefront of reforming collegiate athletics. Passage of this bill could mean a rule change effective on July 1, the same day as Florida.

Iowa athletes could be granted these rights before many student athletes across the country, and failure to pass this bill will only leave them at a disadvantage.

COLUMN

Iowa needs centralized system for vaccine Public-private partnerships are instrumental in developing and distributing vaccines across the country

Hannah Kinson/The Daily Iowan Gov. Kim Reynolds listens during a conference at the GuideLink Center in Iowa City on Feb. 11,.

BY SHAHAB KHAN

shahab-khan@uiowa.edu Gov Kim Reynolds’ vaccine rollout has been lackadaisical.

The original partnership with Microsoft to help develop a vaccine distribution

system was a necessary first step. However, she decided to undo the little progress she had made in getting the vaccine out by canceling the contract.

Currently, Iowa is near the middle of the 50 states in its vaccine distribution rate.

Our vaccine rollout is lag-

ging because Iowa does not have the required amount of resources to effectively distribute the vaccines. Johnson County health officials have warned against creating a centralized system, at least for the county, because health care partners already have patient information in

STAFF Sarah Watson Executive Editor Hannah Pinski Opinions Editor Zeina Aboushaar, Yassie Buchanan, Dylan Hood, Shahab Khan, Ally Pronina, Sophie Stover Columnists COLUMNS, CARTOONS, and OTHER OPINIONS CONTENT reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.

Sarah Watson, Alexandra Skores, Hannah Pinski, Lucee Laursen, and Cesar Perez Editorial Board EDITORIALS reflect the majority opinion of the DI Editorial Board and not the opinion of the publisher, Student Publications Inc., or the University of Iowa.

their databases.

Reynolds should have stuck with the public-private partnership — also known as a P3 — with Microsoft.

Whenever there has been a crisis, the U.S. has turned to private firms for help.

There is no exception in the war against coronavirus as government funding helped biotechnology firms develop highly effective vaccines in record time.

This is best seen by Operation Warp Speed, the government program which invested heavily into vaccine development.

This resulted in the development of life-saving vaccines such as the Moderna vaccine.

Through Operation Warp Speed, Moderna received an eye-watering $2.48 billion in government funding to develop a vaccine with nearly 95 percent efficacy in less than a year, something that was unheard of until recently.

The success of P3s in the fight against the coronavi-

rus is not just limited to the domain of vaccine development. They have also played an integral part in helping the U.S. have one of the top vaccine distribution systems in the world.

Washington state partnered with companies such as Costco, Starbucks, and Microsoft to set up robust distribution systems that have helped get people the vaccines that they need.

North Carolina has also partnered with local sports franchises in order to administer more than 36,000 shots.

On the federal level, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act, which allows the federal government to direct private companies to manufacture more supply of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Because of the action taken by state and federal governments, the U.S. has distributed the most vaccines in the world standing at 42.4 million.

However, there is still a long way to go as it is important to note some states, such as Iowa, have taken a haphazard approach when it comes to distributing the vaccine.

Reynolds needs to get serious with setting up an effective distribution system and is going to need to strike a deal with private firms that will take some pressure off the state when it comes to getting the vaccine out to people who need them quickly.

Cooperation between private businesses and the state government is what is going to pull Iowa out of the COVID-19 crisis.

To maximize efficiency, Iowa needs to commit to an aggressive plan that uses all of the available resources of the public and private sectors. Too many people have unnecessarily died from COVID-19, and our best shot at stopping the plague is smart policy that revolves around P3s.

EDITORIAL POLICY THE DAILY IOWAN which has been serving the University of Iowa, Johnson County, and state of Iowa communities for over 150 years, is committed to fair and accurate coverage of events and issues concerning these areas. In an ever-changing media landscape, the DI realizes that an often contentious political climate – paired with the widespread dissemination of news – can cause contentious discussions over some stories. Although these discussions are essential to democracy – and reiterate the importance of the freedom of expression – the DI takes great lengths to ensure that our social-media presence is free of discriminatory remarks, and inaccurate representations of the communities we ardently serve.

GUEST OPINIONS must be arranged with the Opinions Editor at least three days prior to the desired date of publication. Guest opinions are selected and edited in accordance with length, subject relevance, and space considerations. The DI will only publish one letter per author per month. No advertisements or mass mailings, please.

READER COMMENTS that may appear were originally posted on dailyiowan.com or on the DI’s social media platforms in response to published material.

Comments will be chosen for print publication when they are deemed to forward public discussion. They may be edited for length and style.

THE DAILY IOWAN | DAILYIOWAN.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021

NEWS 5

Posting vaccine card risky Legal and medical experts at the University of Iowa warn against posting vaccine cards with sensitive info on social media.

BY LILY ROSEN MARVEN

lily-rosenmarvin@uiowa.edu Legal experts and health care professionals at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine are warning Iowans that posting pictures of COVID-19 vaccination cards could put patients at risk for identity theft.

The cards contain sensitive

details, such as a patient’s name, date of birth, vaccination site location, and — occasionally — medical ID number. Assistant Professor of Law Anya Prince said all this data taken together could provide important information to nefarious actors.

When sharing potentially sensitive medical information on social media, Prince said

it’s important to consider who you’re sharing it with and how long it stays on your page.

“If I have four Instagram followers and my account setting is all on private, then there are fewer people who get that information versus if I have a public account,” Prince said. “If it’s not broadcast widely then maybe that’s more protected than if it’s on a pub-

lic Facebook post. However, for a lot of social media, even something that’s taken down right away will always have some record somewhere.”

Sam Billingsley, patient access specialist at the UI Hospitals and Clinics said he was aware of the privacy concerns when he shared a picture of his vaccine card on his Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Shivansh Ahuja/The Daily Iowan Patients are injected with the COVID-19 vaccine at the VA Medical Center in Iowa City on Dec. 22, 2020. The center received the Moderna vaccine for its employees.

Although he considered blocking out the information before posting, Billingsley said the handwriting on his card was so messy that he wasn’t really worried about someone using it to obtain his personal information.

He added that he received positive responses on both his Facebook and Instagram accounts after sharing the photo and was able to act as a resource for friends who reached out with questions.

“I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about how [the vaccine] impacted me and if that’s something that somebody else would be able to handle,” Billingsley said. “I’ve always loved being somebody that people can come to for questions or help.”

After getting her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, UI junior Josi Gilbertson said she wanted to post it on her Facebook account so that her older relatives could hear about her experience. She uploaded a photo of a nurse administering her vaccine, along with a brief message about the importance of doing her part to stop the spread of the virus.

Much like Billingsley, Gilbertson said she wanted to share on Facebook so that her family could learn more about the vaccination process.

“I just wanted to reach out on a bigger platform where older people would see,” Gilbertson said. “It looks like people in our generation, who I have on more intimate socials like Twitter and Instagram, are already on the same page [about the vaccine] as I am.”

Prince said she recognizes the potential public health benefits of people sharing their positive experiences with the COVID-19 vaccine but emphasized that some posts may be more secure than others.

“Maybe you don’t share a picture of the vaccine card itself, but you share a picture of your Band-Aid from the shot,” she said. “There can be other ways of showing excitement without sharing that personal identifying information.”

Billingsley said those considering getting the vaccine shouldn’t feel like they have to share their experience on social media.

“It’s a very common thing right now for everybody to be posting ‘Oh here’s my vaccine card,’ but you also don’t have to,” Billingsley said. “You can just write a note on Facebook, you don’t have to post a picture. Don’t feel like you have to do that. But please get your vaccine, whether you post about it or not.”

Another pandemic on horizon?

Experts at the University of Iowa say the changing climate could mean more public health disasters.

BY SABINE MARTIN

sabine-martin@uiowa.edu University of Iowa environmental-health experts say climate change could advance the spread of future infectious diseases and frequency of global health disasters.

Peter Thorne, head of the UI College of Public Health’s Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, said the typical time span Thorne between pandemics — such as the Spanish Flu of 1919 and the COVID-19 pandemic — is 100 years, but the next pandemic could be sooner.

“The question is, will we wait 100 years for the next one?” Thorne said. “When it does happen, we have to have leaders that embrace the science fully because part of our problem this time was a lot of mixed messaging with regard to how significant a threat this was to our country.”

According to a 2020 study by the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci said we can conclude from COVID-19 that we have entered a “pandemic era.”

According to the Pew Research Center, trust in science and medical scientists has grown in Democrats since the start of COVID-19. Just over half of Democrats have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public interest, while 31 percent of Republicans expressed the same level of confidence in medical scientists.

Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases Jack Stapleton said there have always been global pandemics, such as the Russian flu in 1890, and many factors will contribute to disease transmission in the future.

If overcrowding occurs, he said, people can be exposed to animal pathogens, which can cross over to the human species.

President of the UI Global Health Club Hallie Lartius wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that the effects of climate change have potentially become even more dangerous to our health during the COVID-19 pandemic while people are more isolated, face more work and housing instability, and experience pandemic-related stress.

“There are also the root causes of climate change that impact disease, like pollution and poor farming practices,” Lartius wrote. “Unsustainable practices like these are unfortunately common in Iowa, harming our environment and our health at the same time.”

Thorne said we need to worry about “billion-dollar disasters,” such as droughts, extreme heat events, and extreme flooding. These environmental impacts could advance an infectious disease involving mosquitoes and ticks, he said.

Johnson County Community Health Manager Sam Jarvis said after the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson County Public Health will look back and discuss what worked well in mitigating COVID-19 to prepare for future public health crises.

“We are always looking at how we can do better — how we can mitigate better, how we can get information to the public better, because that’s ultimately what it’s about,”

Jarvis said. “We really want everyone to be informed.”

People who live in warm areas build up immunity from diseases that come from mosquitoes, Thorne said. If a disease is introduced in places where inhabitants don’t have immunity, he said, the disease will spread very rapidly.

“We know that, as certain places get wetter and warmer, they’re better able to support the life cycle of these mosquitoes and ticks,” Thorne said.

“The diseases that they carry then will become common to places where they haven’t been before … you’ll suddenly have mosquitoes of the type that carry diseases like Dengue fever or chikungunya.”

Thorne said the spread of COVID-19 from the east to the U.S. is something to notice.

“We saw how fast COVID-19 and the SARS COVID virus moved around the world from its apparent origin to all over the world,” Thorne said. “That’s a product of how quickly diseases can move in this period of time.”

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6 NEWS

THE DAILY IOWAN | DAILYIOWAN.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Local therapy dogs serve at a distance Therapy dogs have been forced out of their traditional service settings, but they’ve still found ways to spread joy from afar.

BY GRACE HAMILTON

Reed said she owns a therapy dog named Skeeter that frequently visited the hospital before COVID-19 started When Joy Miller brought spreading. her therapy dog, Milo, to Oak“It was really sad at first benoll Retirement Residence on cause every week she would Wednesday for the first time go to the hospital, and she since last February, many resknew her people,” she said. idents became tearful.

“People were crying and “She even knew when we asked, ‘Where have you and were driving to the hospital Milo been?’” Miller said. “They because she could tell by the understand why we’ve been curves in the road.” gone, but they consider us a Skeeter said she particupart of the family.” larly misses the health care Milo, a mini goldendoodle, workers at the hospital. has served alongside Miller as “I always joke that Skeeter a therapy dog for four years. is an equal opportunity therMiller said she and Milo have apist. We’ve gotten calls when visited stuit’s a hard day dents at on the unit, and Iowa City the staff needs “Milo and I will be at Oaknoll weekly at least. the therapy,” elementary schools and He jumped in residents’ beds from the doorway. He Reed said. “The the Unihealth care versity of knew they were his people, and that’s his job.” workers are Iowa, and the folks that residents — Jean Reed, Director of Volunteer Services at UIHC know Skeeter at Oaknoll by name. When Retirement they see my Residence. face here withCOVID-19 has put therapy and Milo is good in a crowd out the dog there, they don’t dogs out of work, however, or one-on-one,” she said. “The remember my name, but they because of safety restrictions residents are socially isolated remember to ask about the in facilities they routinely vis- during this pandemic, so it’s dog.” nice to see them interact with it.

Reed said she is uncertain Before Milo’s first in-person Milo and have personal con- when UIHC will allow for the visit at Oaknoll on Wednes- tact.” return of therapy-dog visits.

Similar to Oaknoll, UI Hosday, Miller and Milo brought Miller said Oaknoll resijoy to Oaknoll residents while pitals and Clinics have found dents are awaiting Milo’s onways to offer therapy-dog ser- site return. maintaining social distance.

Oaknoll Administratrator vices safely.

“Milo and I will be at OaDirector of Volunteer Ser- knoll weekly at least,” Miller Kim Bergen-Jackson said the facility used a Chatterbox vices at UIHC Jean Reed said said. “[On Wednesday], he contraption that allowed resi- the pandemic has sidelined jumped in residents’ beds therapy dogs’ on-site service from the doorway. He knew dents to greet Milo safely.

“The chatterbox is a at the hospital. Patients and they were his people, and three-sided wood structure health care workers cannot that’s his job.” with Plexiglas for walls,” Ber- come in contact with therapy Bergen-Jackson said Oagen-Jackson said. “The resi- dogs, Reed said, so they are knoll has had no resident dent is in the chatterbox and recorded instead.

COVID-19 cases, adding that Reed said UIHC broadcasts 100 percent of residents and their visitors on the other side of the Plexiglas. It was some- therapy dog visits from the 89 percent of staff have been thing I saw on Facebook, and patients’ library. Patients can vaccinated against the virus. our maintenance department tune into the hospital channel Because of the facility’s sucto request tricks and ask ques- cess in protecting residents built us two of them.”

Miller said Milo had the op- tions about the therapy dog. from COVID-19, she said thergrace-hamilton@uiowa.edu

portunity to greet residents using the chatterbox and other socially distanced approaches.

“Earlier in the winter, I would go to a window, and they would bring wheelchairs and line them up next to a picture window,” Miller said.

“We smeared peanut butter on the glass. Milo would be licking the glass, and the residents thought that was hilarious.”

Bergen-Jackson said Milo spent a lot of time greeting residents from outside windows.

“Dogs just love everybody,

Contributed Photo of Joy Miller and her therapy dog Milo. apy-dog visits would remain an important priority.

“Some people get along much better with dogs than

they do people. If all of your contacts all day long have to provide a service to you, it doesn’t feel very intimate, but

the dog is just there for love,” Bergen-Jackson said. “People are just so lonely, and Milo is filling a huge gap.”

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ON PAGE 2

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THE DAILY IOWAN | DAILYIOWAN.COM | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021

REACTIONS CONTINUED FROM 8 “Since they don’t want our team, we don’t want their colors,” Men’s tennis player Nikita Snezhko posted on social media Friday.

Kerst added, however, that he’s happy for the women’s swimmers and divers. “[I’m] happy for any opportunities that are given to student-athletes,” Kerst said after the match.

“That’s always the goal, to provide opportunities for student-athletes, so I’m happy for them.”

While both Stewart Brown of men’s gymnastics and men’s swimmer Ryan Purdy shared Kerst’s opinion, Purdy thought the uni-

versity reinstated the sport for the wrong reasons and that Barta is trying save himself.

Purdy noted that Barta’s Feb. 15 meeting with the women’s swimming and diving team at the UI pool was the first time he’d seen Barta at the pool this school year.

“A week before our women’s Big Ten [Championships], they’ve been focusing all year for this, our athletic director decides to walk into our pool, that he hasn’t shown his face to the whole entire season,” Purdy said in an interview with the DI . “He hasn’t spoken a word to us since we got cut, he just decides to walk in to reinstate our women’s team. Takes away two hours of their practice time a week in advance of

the biggest meet of the season, blatant obliviousness to the situation.”

Brown, an All-American for the men’s gymnastics team, said that although he is happy for the reinstated athletes, he is unsettled by the circumstances surrounding the university’s decision.

“It’s upsetting to see that there are Title IX accusations,” Brown said in an interview with the DI .

“But [the women’s swimming and diving team] is reinstated and [the athletics department] found the money, or whatever it may be, for them to stay around, but not for us.”

Barta said in a Feb. 16 teleconference that the university would be facing a deficit between $50 and $60 million next year.

Shivansh Ahuja/The Daily Iowan Iowa’s Alyssa Graves competes in the women’s 1000m freestyle during a swim meet at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Jan. 16.

VOLLEYBAL CONTINUED FROM 8

Grace Kreber/The Daily Iowan Iowa’s Audrey Black spikes on Rutgers during the Iowa vs Rutgers match at Xtream Arena on Feb. 19.

GYMNASTICS CONTINUED FROM 8 While the Nittany Lions gained momentum with their stellar vault performance, Davis says the Hawkeyes gained momentum back on the same event.

“Having [Stewart Brown] land that vault was a huge mood booster,” Davis said. “I think everyone dominoed off of it. Especially on high bar, that first routine that goes, landing, and then it’s just one after another.

We’re so good at building momentum, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’re so dominant this year.”

Brown led the Hawkeyes on vault, finishing third with a score of 14.300.

Tope added to his night

with a share of seventh, scoring a season-high 14.050. James Friedman scored his career-best with a 14.000, giving him ninth overall. Davis’s career-best score of 14.350 was counted into his allaround total.

The back end of the competition was a close-knitted battle.

On rings, the Hawkeyes took four of the top five spots. Freshman James Friedman led the way for the Hawkeyes. He finished second with a 13.350. Davis earned another thirdplace finish with a 13.300.

Brown finished with a 13.100, giving him fourth.

Reuven Anderson posted a 12.900, a season-best.

Huang and Tope both took a share of the top stop on parallel bars, each finishing with a 13.350.

Davis picked up a thirdplace share with a 13.250, and Brown finished with a

13.200, slotting him in the fifth position.

As the Hawkeyes entered the sixth and final rotation, horizontal bar, they held onto a 334.800-332.100 lead. The Hawkeyes needed a commanding performance, and they got it from Davis. He found himself in a three-way tie for the title, with a score of 13.250.

Noah Scigliano finished fourth with a season-high of 13.150.

After a week off, the next two meets for Iowa are on the road, something Iowa head coach JD Reive knows will be a challenge.

“That recovery is important for us right now so that we can get back into this next phase of things and hit it hard,” Reive said.

“We have Michigan and Ohio State. Two road trips all within a week, that is going to test us.”

SPORTS 7

simova would go on to tie her career-high in kills with 17.

“We knew Rutgers’ defense was going to make adjustments, and they started getting more touches on some of our attacks,” Iowa head coach Vicki Brown said.

Sets three through five became the Courtney Buzzerio show.

Iowa dropped a nail biter of a third set, 26-24, but showed grit in the fourth to beat Rutgers, 25-20, and force a fifth set.

Buzzerio had 10 kills and a .455 hitting percentage in those two sets and finished with a .381 hitting percentage and 19 kills — matching her career-high.

“When I get going, I expect

the ball,” Buzzerio said. “Being in multiple fifth sets like this and just being older, I want the ball, and I believe that I can put the ball down, and Bailey can feel that.”

Any momentum Iowa had going into the fifth set was quickly killed by a 3-0 run from Rutgers to start the set.

Rutgers led the entirety of the fifth set, but Iowa managed to bring it back within one late.

Maksimova swiftly ended Iowa’s hope, however, with a kill and a block on junior Hannah Clayton to end the match.

“It’s definitely not the best feeling,” Ortega said. “Going into this next week with Northwestern coming up, I think that we can learn from this.”

Career-highs from Edina Schmidt, Joslyn Boyer, Maddie Slagle, and Blythe Rients powered the Hawkeyes past Rutgers on Friday.

Iowa won in four sets, 25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, and grabbed its second win of the season and second win at home.

Iowa shut down the focal point of Rutgers’ offense — senior hitters Beka Kojadinovic and Kamilia Cieslik — holding them to a combined .116 hitting percentage on the weekend.

Schmidt set career highs in kills (21), attack attempts (43), and hitting percentage (43) in Friday’s match.

Boyer set a career-high in assists with seven, Slagle had a career-high three service aces, and Rients had a career-high six digs.

“We are definitely finding our rhythm and can see it in longer spurts of the set,” Brown said. “But we are still having those moments where some players are checking out a couple of points here and there throughout the rally.”

Ayrton Breckenridge/The Daily Iowan Iowa’s all-around Evan Davis celebrates after performing on the horizontal bar on Feb. 20 during the Iowa vs.

Penn State men’s gymnastics meet at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Sports THE MOST COMPLETE HAWKEYE SPORTS COVERAGE IN IOWA

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021

HAWKEYE UPDATES No. 7 women’s gymnastics defeats Nebraska

The Iowa women’s gymnastics team beat Nebraska, 195.850195.100, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, Saturday night.

Freshman Adeline Kenlin won the beam with a career-best of 49.175, while senior Clair Kaji and sophomore JerQuavia Henderson tied for first on the floor Kenlin with a 9.926. Kenlin’s score on the beam is tied for second all-time in program history.

The GymHawks are No. 1 nationally on the floor, and as a team posted a 49.300 against the Cornhuskers in that event.

On vault, the Hawkeyes set a new season high with a 49.125. Junior Lauren Guerin posted a 9.875, which was good for second. Henderson and junior Bridget Killian scored a 9.850, resulting in season bests for both.

The Hawkeyes, the third best bars team in the conference, had an overall score of 48.250 on that event. Kaji tied for second with a 9.825, and sophomore Ellie Kaji Rogers scored a 9.825.

As a team, the Hawkeyes scored a 49.175 on the beam. Kaji placed second with a 9.875. Henderson and freshman Aubrey Nick each scored a 9.800.

The only Hawkeye to compete on all-around was Henderson, and she finished in that event with a 38.875.

Iowa competes next on Friday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the Big Five Meet at 1 p.m.

Soccer loses its season opener

The Iowa soccer team lost to Wisconsin, 1-0, in Loves Park, Illinois, on Saturday in its season-opener.

The Badgers got on the board early with a goal from sophomore Claire Odmark 9:25 into the game.

The Hawkeyes had two chances late in the game, Ingles but freshman Meike Ingles hit her shot off the cross bar and junior Hailey Rydberg missed her shot on a breakaway.

“We spoke before the game about being resilient and not allowing moments in the game to affect our mentality and how we competed, Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “I think we did that for 90 minutes. Credit to Wisconsin for an opportunistic goal early in the game that created momentum for them in the first half. We created enough good scoring chances to not only tied the game, but win it, but, unfortunately, we need a little more quality and composure and that’s OK. It’s early, we will get better in that area.”

Iowa competes at Illinois on Thursday.

Athletes from cut sports react The women’s swimming and diving program was reinstated on Feb. 15 after it was going to be discontinued following this season.

Ayrton Breckenridge/The Daily Iowan Iowa all-around Stewart Brown performs his floor routine Feb. 20 during the Iowa vs. Penn State men’s gymnastics meet at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa defeated Penn State 398.850-393.550.

BY CHRIS WERNER

christopher-werner@uiwoa.edu After the University of Iowa reinstated women’s swim and dive — one of four sports slated to be cut because of financial constraints — players of the other three permanently cut sports bristled at administrators for flip flopping what they’ve said was a set-in-stone plan for only one of the four sports.

UI President Bruce Harreld and Director of Athletics Gary Barta announced in an open letter on Aug. 21 the decision to discontinue four varsity sports — men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis, and men’s gymnastics — after the 2020-21 academic year because of millions of dollars lost from COVID-19 pandemic’s pause on high-revenue sports during

the spring and fall.

On Feb. 15, the university reinstated the women’s swimming and diving program following a legal battle between the UI and four members of the women’s swimming team, which alleged that cutting its team would make the UI non-compliant with Title IX. Title IX requires that opportunities be equitable relative to the student population.

The women’s swimmers’ Title IX complaint alleges that, in 2018-19, women made up 53.56 percent of the UI student body, but had only been provided with 50.77 percent of the athletic opportunities, as previously reported by The Daily Iowan .

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Dec. 22, temporarily blocking the UI’s decision to cut women’s swimming and

Career-highs, but no win for Iowa VB Iowa dropped the second match of its two-day series against Rutgers in five sets.

Dave DiIanni

STAT OF THE DAY

3

Shots Iowa soccer junior Hailey Rydberg took on Saturday versus Wisconsin.

SEE REACTIONS, 7

Gymnastics keeps win streak The Hawkeyes beat the Nittany Lions Saturday night to move to 3-0. hunter-moeller@uiowa.edu

QUOTE OF THE DAY

— Iowa head soccer coach

diving at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

Last week, the UI issued a statement that the department “continues to disagree with the claims made by the lawsuit” but reinstated the swim team for 2021-22 season while the lawsuit makes its way through the court system.

“In the interest of serving our student-athletes, coaches, and community, the University believes more certainty will be beneficial for the future of the program,” the UI’s statement said.

Men’s tennis player Jason Kerst wore a red shirt without the Hawkeye logo alongside the rest of his team at the first home match of the season. Players went without the black and gold to protest the UI.

BY HUNTER MOELLER

Go to dailyiowan.com to read more.

“We had some good showings tonight by individuals and it’s a good foundation to build on heading into next weekend’s games”

DAILYIOWAN.COM

Jerod Ringwald/The Daily Iowan Iowa Setter Bailey Ortega comes off the court trailing late in the final set during a women’s volleyball match between Iowa and Rutgers at Xtream Arena Feb. 20.

BY WILL FINEMAN

william-fineman@uiowa.edu Freshmen setter Bailey Ortega has tallied over 25 assists in two matches this season. Unfortunately for Ortega, both of those matches were fiveset losses for the Iowa volleyball team.

Ortega’s career-high 34 assists could not secure the victory for Iowa as it split its two-game series with Rutgers and lost, 3-2, on Saturday.

“It sucks that it keeps having to happen on times like this,” Ortega said. “As great as it is that I was able to have a career night, it really just doesn’t turn around from the fact that we did lose in five.”

Ortega also set a career-high in digs with 12.

Her fellow freshman Audrey Black slated a ca-

reer-high 15 kills against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday. “[Black] is one of those players that always wants the ball no matter what happens,” Ortega said. “We have a great friendship, but one of the best parts of our friendship is that we are always able to hold each other accountable.”

The Hawkeyes continued their momentum from Friday into the first set holding Rutgers to only 13 points — their lowest set point total of the weekend.

The second set was a completely different story.

Rutgers outscored Iowa, 10-3, to start the set and never looked back with outside hitter Anastasiia Maksimova tallying five kills in that set alone.

The Hawkeyes lost the second set, 25-17, and MakSEE VOLLEYBALL 7

The No. 6 Iowa men’s gymnastics team performed with tenacity to stay undefeated Saturday night against No. 5 Penn State.

The 398.850-393.550 win over the Nittany Lions wasn’t pretty, but the Hawkeyes knew what they needed to do.

Evan Davis, who won all-around for the second straight week with a score of 80.850, said his team’s tenacity and energy are why they perform so well.

“The reason this team is so strong is that there’s something about being an underdog,” David said. “We create so much energy that it feels like it affects the other team. We want to prove people wrong.”

The Iowa men’s gymnastics team will be discontinued at the end of the academic year because of financial constraints caused by COVID-19.

Iowa, who started on floor, finished its first rotation with a 68.200-64.300 lead over Penn State. Bennet Huang and Davis led the Hawkeyes on the floor, finishing first and second overall with a 13.900 and 13.850.

Carter Tope scored himself a season-best of 13.800, well enough for fourth.

Throughout the second rotation on pommel horse, the Hawkeyes held a steady lead.

Three Iowa gymnasts finish inside the top five. Carter Tope finished second with a 13.350, and Drew Helberg and Huang finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with 13.200 and 13.050.

The Nittany Lions clawed their way back on the third event of the night — vault. Penn State took the first and second spots with high scores of 14.600 and 14.400.

SEE GYMNASTICS, 7