Former National Player of the Year Luke Garza says he's ready to get to work as one of the newest members of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Garza, the 6-11 Washington D.C. native, was signed by the Timberwolves on Tuesday along with forward CJ Elleby and spent his rookie season with the Detroit Pistons where he averaged 5.8 points on 44.9% shooting and 3.1 rebounds per game in 32 games.
"For me I think the biggest thing is the ability to learn from the type of talent on this team," Garza told Vineeta Sawkar during the WCCO Radio Morning News. "I think being around great players and great character players on this team can only help me and my career."
Garza, who played four season at the University of Iowa, certainly is no stranger to the Twin Cities. In his senior season, Garza faced the Minnesota Gophers twice, 32 and 33 points respectively.
"When I was in college Minneapolis was one of my favorite cities to go to," he said. "I'm from Washington D.C. so moving to the Midwest was kind of a culture shock. When you go to most of these cities in the Big Ten, there's no buildings and no real big city. When we went to Minneapolis it was always a breath of fresh air."
While it remains unclear if Garza will make the Timberwolves final roster, he contends that he's ready to work in order to be a contributor this season.
"I think I'm a guy who's going to go out there and do whatever it takes to win," added Garza. "Just going out there and playing hard. Getting offensive rebounds, creating second possessions, playing hard on defense, getting stops, and the ability to stretch the floor which is something obviously Karl-Anthony Towns does at a super high level. Having that off the bench as well is something I hope to provide.
