How are you spending your Fourth of July? Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia is spending his with a visit to Arizona, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.
Garcia, who entered the transfer portal this week, is considered one of the top transfers on the market. The 6-foot-11 forward averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman in 2020-21 while shooting 48 percent from the field, 36 percent from 3 and 78 percent from the free throw line.
That was enough to earn him Big East All-Freshman honors. Garcia started all 27 games, had three double-doubles, and posted six 20-point games.
The Minnesota native was the No. 37 player in the country and a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Prior Lake High School. He was also the MVP of the 2019 USA Men’s 3×3 U18 World Cup Team that claimed the first gold medal for the USA.
Garcia is apparently so good that adding him to a frontcourt that includes Azuolas Tubelis would elevate Arizona into Goodman’s preseason Top 25, maybe even Top 15.
Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia will visit Arizona tomorrow, source told @Stadium.
Garcia and Azuolas Tubelis (he had 32 and 12 today in the U-19’s) would be one hell of a frontcourt duo.
If Arizona lands Garcia, would move into my Top 25 — maybe even crack Top 15.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 3, 2021
Garcia declared for the NBA Draft earlier this offseason, so it’s not even a given that he will play college basketball next season, but it’s a good sign that he’s visiting Arizona. Several high-major schools immediately contacted him when he hit the portal this week.
The Wildcats currently have two scholarships open for the 2021-22 season and while new head coach Tommy Lloyd said it’s unlikely they fill both spots, he acknowledged that Arizona is always looking to make additions. He said the Cats would only add players who fit with the current roster. Garcia does.
“Traditionally in the past, I’ve been really comfortable playing two bigs together and so having another guy might give us a little more depth and more opportunities,” Lloyd said Thursday. “But if we don’t, I feel like we have guards with good size. We could play our own version of small ball and I think we’d be pretty good at it.”