During the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft on Thursday, July 29, three players across the Illinois/Iowa region, including one from the Quad City area, heard their names called on the big stage and officially become professional basketball players.
The draft saw the professional teams considering two Hawkeyes from the University of Iowa: Muscatine local Joe Wieskamp and his teammate Luka Garza, as well as University of Illinois's Ayo Dosunmu for their picks.
Joe Wieskamp - drafted by the San Antonio Spurs
The Muscatine, Iowa native has played with Iowa for three years, playing 97 games for the Hawkeyes.
In his 2019 freshman year, Wieskamp started all 35 games and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. After the season, he declared for the 2019 NBA Draft, but decided to withdraw and return to Iowa.
In 2020 after another notable season, he was named to the Third Team All-Big Ten.
In the most recent 2021 season, Wieskamp was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten, before declaring for the NBA Draft once again.
Joe Wieskamp was drafted as the 11th pick in the 2nd round by the San Antonio Spurs.
Luka Garza - drafted by the Detroit Pistons
The D.C. native joined the Hawkeyes in the 2017-2018 season, continuing to play for the Hawkeyes through 2021.
In his sophomore year of 2019 he was named as an All-Big Ten Honorable mention after returning to the court after a surgery and bout with a sprained ankle.
During the 2020 season, he scored 44 points of a 91-103 loss to Michigan; the third-most points by a single player in the school's history. At the end of the regular season, he was given the honor of the Big Ten Player of the Year, was named the Sporting News National Player of the Year earned first-team All-American honors. He declared for the NBA draft that year, but withdrew to return to Iowa for another season.
In 2021, his fourth season with the Hawkeyes, Garza scored his 2000th point for the team, and later surpassed Roy Marble to become Iowa's all-time leading scorer. At the end of the season, he was named National Player of the Year again by Sporting News, becoming the first to repeat winning the title since Michael Jordan in 1983-84. He also became the first player in Iowa men's basketball history to win Big Ten Player of the Year twice and consensus first-team All-American.
Luka Garza was drafted as the 22nd pick in the 2nd round by the Detroit Pistons
Ayo Dosunmu - drafted by the Chicago Bulls
Chicago native Ayo Dosunmu joined the University of Illinois Fighting Illini in the 2018-2019 season, quickly receiving honors in his debut year, including being named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and an as honorable mention for the All-Big Ten Team.
At the end of the 2019-2020 season, Dosunmu was named to the First Team All Big Ten by sports media and to the Second Team by coaches, before declaring for the NBA Draft, although he ended up deciding to withdraw and return to Illinois for his junior season.
There, he became the third player in the school's history to perform a triple-double, and later recorded a second one. In the Big Ten Tournament, he was named the Most Outstanding player. Later was named a consensus first-team All-American and won the Bob Cousy Award for the top point guard in the country, before declaring for the 2021 NBA Draft.
Ayo Dosunmu was drafted as the 8th pick in the 2nd round by the Chicago Bulls.