Dawson Garcia, a 6-11 big man from Marquette announced via his Twitter last night that he’s going to continue to explore professional basketball opportunities, while also entering the transfer portal. Garcia is coming off a rather productive freshman season, where he started all 27 games for the Golden Eagles while averaging 13.0 points, and 6.6 rebounds. Tar Heel fans remember Garcia very well, as he scored 24 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds in Marquette’s upset win over the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill in February. His ability to stretch the floor made it hard for UNC to defend him, and their other options, in their lone loss in Chapel Hill last season. Under Roy Williams, the idea of targeting a player like Garcia would be far-fetched, as the former Hall of Fame head coach preferred traditional big men, as opposed to the modern floor spacing guys we see today. But there is a new era of Carolina Basketball in Chapel Hill, as Hubert Davis is installing a more modern offense, focusing on guard play, bringing in post players that can space the floor, and making perimeter shots. Add in the fact that UNC has lost four post players to the transfer portal themselves, and another guy off to the NBA, there is a definite void in Carolina’s frontcourt, which was the strength of the team last season. As it sits currently, UNC only has Armando Bacot, Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek, and UVA transfer Justin McKoy as viable options up front. Simply put, that’s not enough to navigate through the ACC season.
Hubert Davis proves himself to be a viable recruiter, as he can sell his vision to players, despite the Tar Heels have played a game under his watch. As mentioned above, he’s already landed two transfers that do what Garcia can do. Earlier this week, UNC landed four-star combo guard Seth Trimble, despite entering his recruitment late, and Michigan being the perceived favorite all along. Davis has shown the ability to connect to players and build relationships in a very quick manner. In addition to Garcia’s offensive abilities, he brings more size to the Tar Heels, which they are going to need when playing the likes of Duke and Florida State in ACC play. His rebounding abilities would be greatly appreciated, as he registered 5 double digit rebound games last season. More importantly, he brings more depth to UNC’s rotation, which they desperately need. As currently constructed, Armando Bacot simply can’t afford to get in foul trouble (an area he’s struggled), for UNC to compete at a high level. Adding Garcia would take that load off of Bacot, and give Hubert Davis more options, both offensively and defensively.
It’s unclear as of right now if UNC will in fact recruit Garcia, but one thing is for sure. He looked right at home in the Smith Center back in February, and he’s quite the player in the shade of light blue.
Make sure to stay tuned to the Heel Tough Blog for the latest Carolina Basketball recruiting news.
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