As the game of basketball evolves, skilled big men have become more and more valued at the college and professional levels.
Perhaps as much as anyone in the class of 2020, Minnesota based top 30 forward Dawson Garcia fits very well into the modern positionless game.
Whether you call him a skilled big, versatile, stretch four, or point forward, one thing has become clear in recent months — Garcia is highly valued at Indiana University.
In fact, he is the last offered class of 2020 target currently on the board for the Hoosiers. As they look to fill their last remaining open scholarship in the class, the IU coaching staff is “all in” with Garcia.
Garcia makes his official visit to Indiana’s Bloomington campus this weekend (Oct. 25-27). The timing of this visit couldn’t be more critical. Garcia plans to verbally commit within the next month, meaning that a big impression this weekend could potentially seal the deal for IU.
Look for IU to pull out all the stops this weekend in connection with Garcia’s visit. Per a source, current 2020 commits and friends of Garcia Anthony Leal and Trey Galloway will both be around and involved with the visit, along with a number of other special plans.
While Garcia has stated that he is down to four finalists, multiple national recruiting service reports have indicated that Indiana and Marquette are out in front as we hit the home stretch.
Garcia has been to Marquette already (along with Memphis and Minnesota), and he stated in a recent radio interview that he is still deciding whether he will make any additional visits after this weekend.
In other words, Indiana might have the final say here as the clock runs out.
IU official this weekend, Hoosier nation what’s good‼️⚪️🔴 https://t.co/bUVYRWgnz1
— Dawson (@Dawson23lee) October 25, 2019
ESSENTIALS
Status — OFFERED (April 2019)
Hometown – Prior Lake, Minnesota (Prior Lake High School)
Position – Forward
Height – 6-foot-11
Weight – 225
AAU – D1 Minnesota (Adidas)
247 Sports Composite Rating – 4-star (No. 30 nationally)
Primary Competition – Minnesota, Marquette, Memphis (final four)
Timeline — Garcia is in the process of taking official visits. Official visits to Minnesota and Memphis have already occurred and Garcia is deciding whether he will take one to Marquette. Garcia has stated publicly that he intends to decide by the November early signing period (Nov. 13-20)
Indiana Connections — IU assistant Tom Ostrom is from the same area of Minnesota and has known Garcia for a long time. Ostrom is well connected to the entire D1 Minnesota program and he successfully recruited Race Thompson. IU 2020 commits Anthony Leal and Trey Galloway have both said that they are friends with Garcia and assisting in the recruiting effort.
Numbers — Garcia averaged 27.5 points and 11 rebounds a game as a high school junior at Prior Lake for a 25-4 top five ranked team. He was ill during a significant portion of the AAU season and did not compile meaningful statistics according to the Adidas Gauntlet site.
RECRUITING SERVICE ASSESSMENTS
“The top 40 four man has always impressed with his body control and ability to get to spots all over the floor off the dribble. Especially for a 6-foot-10’ish frontcourt player.
What really stood out to me, though, is his added strength and willing to get physical. Add all that together and I see a dude who is already ranked pretty high but could move up even more.”
— Eric Bossi, Rivals, on Garcia’s recent strides this fall.
“Length allows him to block shots, and he is a capable rebounder. As he gets stronger, all parts of his game should begin to come together. He isn’t an elite athlete, but he does have solid explosion off the court. He is very skilled. Can make shots out to the three-point line, is very good going off the dribble, and also can pass. His upside is significant, and he does have a little bit more potential than production. Keeps improving and has an excellent chance to stick in the NBA for a long time.”
— Brian Snow, 247Sports, on Garcia’s skills and projection
QUOTABLE
“I’ve been friends with Dawson Garcia the last year or two playing against him on the circuit,” Leal said. “So I am definitely going to talk to him just to try get his mind thinking about IU.”
— IU commit Anthony Leal via The Daily Hoosier
“Coach Miller has made a really good impression. They’ve been coaching me throughout this entire recruiting process and they aren’t all just hyping me up. Tom (Ostrom) I’ve known him for a long time throughout the process and he’s been really good to me. They’ve all been really real, that stands out a lot.”
— Garcia on Indiana via Rivals
“There’s no question that Dawson can, at 6-foot-11 with his length and ability, not only handle the ball as a point forward, as a small forward, or even a shooting guard, but he also has the ability to defend those positions as well.”
— Garcia’s AAU Coach Al Harris
RECENT VIDEOS
RECENT INTERVIEW
Garcia gave an interview at the Team USA minicamp in October.
[Go here to see all of our individual class of 2020 profile pages as they are added. Go here to see our class of 2020 big board with the recruits in our order of likelihood of a commitment.]
