Top 50 2020 Dawson Garcia on rise, has fall visit planned
RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position
Already ranked in the top-50 of the class of 2020, skilled forward Dawson Garcia is still rising.
A true modern big man who can shoot with range, put the ball on the floor and run for days in transition, Garcia is off to a great start to the summer. He's drawn offers from the likes of Texas, Baylor, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Butler, Marquette and more will be coming soon. Last weekend, he and his D1 Minnesota teammates won the 16U division of the Adidas Gauntlet Finale in New York City.
“It’s great to win a tournament and I feel like we’ve been playing our best basketball lately and it’s been really fun," said Garcia. "I’ve been working on getting in the weight room and working on my explosiveness and my quickness from side to side and then just adding to my offensive game. I’m adding to my ball-handling and my shooting.
“I don’t really see myself as a position. I just kind of see myself as whatever the coach needs me to do for them.”
IN HIS OWN WORDS
In the fall, Garcia will take an unofficial visit to Texas in the latter part of September. He discussed the Longhorns, his home state program, Wisconsin and another program making a recent push, Xavier.
Texas: “I think Shaka Smart is a great coach and has great success. He built up a powerhouse at VCU and then obviously got the big job at Texas and has been doing a great job. Our former player Jericho Sims plays there and he’s said nothing but good things about it and he seems like he’s probably going to be drafted, maybe next year.”
Minnesota: “Their team camp was great and had a lot of great competition. I’ve been in a lot more contact with them as of late. I’ve met all of their assistants and been talking to them a lot. (Richard) Pitino is a great guy and their new facility is sweet so I’m excited to continue getting recruited by the Gophers.”
Wisconsin: “They’ve been texting me and my dad here and there and telling me that I’ve played well. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens."
Xavier: “Coach (Ben) Johnson has kind of been the same since he was with the Gophers now that he’s at Xavier. He’s always been a great guy to me and helped lead me in the right direction. Coach (Travis) Steele has also been keeping in contact with me a lot lately and they are good guys over there.”
RIVALS' REACTION, WHAT'S NEXT?
Garcia is just starting to scratch the surface of how good he can be. With his size, mobility and skill there's no reason that he couldn't eventually challenge for five-star status if he continues to improve at the rate he has since this time last summer.
He's in no rush to make any kind of decision and there's a good chance that he sees the best of the best in college basketball get involved before the summer ends.