"I needed meditation to lean on, to be able to mainly just go out there and be myself and not worry about anything else," Garza said. That best explains why the 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior is The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year after finishing second last season. He was the runaway choice for the award announced Thursday, receiving 50 of 63 votes from AP Top 25 voters. Ayo Dosunmu, who led Illinois to the Big Ten Tournament title and a No. 1 NCAA seed, was second with six votes, followed by Oklahoma State freshman Cade Cunningham with three. Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert and Baylor’s Jared Butler each earned two votes.