The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Basketball Hawks garner awards

Iowa+guard+Peter+Jok+loses+control+of+the+ball+while+driving+past+Michigans+Derrick+Walton+and+Mortiz+Wanger+%2813%29+during+a+mens+basketball+game+in+Carver-Hawkeye+Arena+on+Sunday%2C+Jan.+1%2C+2017.+The+Hawkeyes+defeated+the+Wolverines%2C+86-83+in+OT.+%28The+Daily+Iowan%2FJoseph+Cress%29
Joseph Cress
Iowa guard Peter Jok loses control of the ball while driving past Michigan’s Derrick Walton and Mortiz Wanger (13) during a men’s basketball game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. The Hawkeyes defeated the Wolverines, 86-83 in OT. (The Daily Iowan/Joseph Cress)

Iowa basketball held its annual banquet on Sunday evening, recognizing certain players with season awards.

Senior Peter Jok garnered Iowa’s Chris Street award after scoring 19.9 points per game. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists throughout the season.

“I’d like to thank [Jok] for leading us,” Jordan Bohannon said in a tweet from the Iowa basketball account. “Without his leadership, we wouldn’t have done what we accomplished this year.”

Sophomore Ahmad Wagner earned the title of Most Improved Player and received the inaugural Kenny Arnold Hawkeye Spirit Award, given to the Hawkeye who exemplifies Arnold’s “spirit, leadership, courage, character, and determination,” according to the Hawkeye Basketball Twitter account.

“Kenny is a special person,” Wagner said in a tweet from the Iowa Basketball account. “This is truly a blessing and an honor to earn the very first Kenny Arnold Hawkeye Spirit Award.”

As a freshman, Wagner scored 2.6 points per game. He also collected 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assister a contest.

This season he scored 4.8 points, grabbed 3.4 rebounds, and dished out 1.4 assists a game.

Big Ten All-Freshman teammates Bohannon and Tyler Cook snagged the Co-Newcomers of the Year.

Cook (12.3 points per game) and Bohannon (10.9) finished second and third on the team in scoring, respectively.

Bohannon’s awards didn’t stop there. The Marion native also received the award for Top Playmaker after knocking down 3-pointers at a 41.6-percent clip.

Nicholas Baer, the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year, took home two awards — Best Defensive Player and Best Rebounder.

Baer led the team with an average of 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game — one of four Hawkeyes in school history to lead the team in blocks and steals in the same season.

— by Adam Hensley

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