Future Hawkeye Hoopsters Signing Letters of Intent This Week

This year's Iowa men's basketball team may be lacking a true center, but two big men are headed to Iowa City for the 2017-18 season, and they're both four-star recruits.

Iowa's 2016-17 roster on Hawkeyesports.com, literally, doesn't list a center. Post help is on the way next season. During today's early signing period, Iowa has signed two players who are six-foot-nine plus.

The first is true center Luka Garza. The Washington, D.C. recruit He's 6-foot 11-inches tall and weighs 250 pounds and was highly sought by many of the nation's best programs. Among the 20-plus schools that wanted Garza's talents were Indiana and Louisville. According to the Gazette, his season averages during his junior year were just over 25 points and 12 rebounds per game.

His highlight reel shows his efficiency, even if there's nothing that necessarily wows you.

Also, expected to sign this week is Jack Nunge, a 6-foot 9-inch, 185-pounder, from Newburgh, Indiana. He can shoot from the outside, seemingly always a must for Fran McCaffery recruits, but he can also play in the paint, as the video highlights below show.

Nunge is expected to six his letter of intent to become a future Hawkeye on Thursday.

N.D. Kendrick, who's in charge of the AAU league where Nunge plays told Hawk Central something that Iowa basketball fans will LOVE to read. His comment about Nunge, was this: "Specifically, with coach McCaffery’s system, the way that he plays will be very similar to Jarrod Uthoff and Aaron White, but with just maybe a couple more inches in size.”

Iowa's other verbal commitment for next season, thus far, came from Fran McCaffery's son, Connor. He's considered a three-star recruit and averaged more than 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds per game during his junior season. He didn't sign today. He's also considering baseball at Iowa. During his weekly press conference Wednesday, McCaffery explained the situation, "He's trying to figure out do I need to pick or do I need to continue to play both. Can I play both? Is it feasible or am I going to suffer in each as I move forward, and that's not an easy decision."

All those players are still a year away. The 2016-17 Iowa men's basketball season tips off Friday night at 8:35 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Kennesaw State. Go Hawks!

[via Hawkeyesports.com, Hawk Central, and the Gazette]