Dawson Garcia

Photo by: Kelly Hagenson

Position:
Forward
Ht./Wt.:
6-11 / 230
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Savage, Minn.
High School:
Prior Lake HS

PRONUNCIATION

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Minnesota's 2025 Big Ten Medal of Honor, which is given annually to the top male athlete in both athletics and academics • Earned Second, Third and honorable All-Big Ten honors as a Golden Gopher • two-time Preseason All-Big Ten • Academic All-Big Ten honoree • Minnesota’s leading scorer and rebounder all three years as a Gopher • established over 2,000 career points and 1,500 as a Gopher, the first to do so since Daniel Oturu in 2020 • ranks 10th in school history in career points (1557), ninth in career scoring average (17.5), 12th in career field goals (546), seventh in free throws made (356) and 10th in free throw attempts (459) • First Gopher since Randy Breuer who led the team in points and rebounds for three consecutive seasons.

2024-25 | SENIOR SEASON:
Minnesota's 2025 Big Ten Medal of Honor, which is given annually to the top male athlete in both athletics and academics • Second Team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media • led the team and ranked fourth in the Big Ten in scoring when he averaged 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds, both a team-best • scored 614 points in 2024-25, which ranked sixth in school history • team-best 78.3 free throw percentage • Preseason All-Big Ten honoree • Naismith Top 50 Trophy Watch List honoree • Preseason Finalist for Basketball Hall of Fame’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award • Blue Ribbon Preseason All-Big Ten • dropped 30 points in the season opener vs. Oral Roberts (11/6) with a career-best four three-pointers and had a team-best eight rebounds • had 24 points and seven rebounds against Omaha (11/9) • scored 24 points, went 10-for-10 at the free throw line and snagged a game-best eight rebounds against North Texas (11/13) •established his 1,000 Minnesota point in the game vs. UNT • fourth-straight 20-point game when he scored a game-best 24 points and seven rebounds vs. Yale (11/16) • added first double double of the season in a 22 point, 11 rebound game vs. Central Michigan (11/25) • posted 23 points in the Bethune Cookman game • added a double double when he scored 18 points vs. Michigan State • scored a game-best 22 points at Indiana (12/9) • produced 18 points and 10 rebounds in the FDU win (12/21) for his third double double of the season • added another 18 points and eight rebounds in Morgan State win (12/29) • added 20 points vs. Purdue (1/2) • produced a 22-point, 10-rebound game at Wisconsin (1/10) • scored 21 points and seven rebounds at Maryland (1/13) • buzzer beater shot to defeat No. 20 Michigan in overtime • added a game-best 27 points and 12 rebounds in the win over the Wolverines • posted another 20 points and six rebounds in the win at Iowa (1/22) • added his second 30-point game of the year when he had a season-high 31 vs. Oregon, added three blocks and two assists • Big Ten Player of the Week after the Iowa/Oregon performances • had a game-best 21 points at Michigan State (1/28) • added a game-best 28 points vs. Washington (2/1) • held a seven-game streak in which he had 20 or more points in a game • had a game-best 19 points and season-best 14 rebounds in the win at Penn State (2/4) • scored a season-best 32 points, including 27 points in the second half, in the win at UCLA (2/18) • added a double-double vs. Penn State (2/22) • scored 26 points vs. Northwestern (2/25) • produced 19 points and eight rebounds at Rutgers (3/9) • had 22 points vs. Northwestern at the Big Ten Tournament.

2023-24 | JUNIOR SEASON:
All-Big Ten Second Team (media) and Third Team coaches) • NABC All-District Second Team • Academic All-Big Ten • averaged a team-best 17.6 points and 6.7 rebounds • also had 32 blocks, 24 steals and 74 assists • had 28 double-digit games, 12 20-point games and three 30-point performances • Preaseason All-Big Ten • Preseason and Top 10 Finalists for Basketball Hall of Fame’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award • opened the season with a 23 point, 14 rebound, six assist game against Bethune-Cookman (11/6) • added second-straight 20-point game with game-high 22 vs. UTSA (11/10) • Big Ten Player of the Week after opening week of the season • four double-doubles • scored 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists vs. Missouri (11/16) • scored a team-best 14 points and six rebounds in win over USC Upstate (11/18) • added 19 points, nine rebounds vs. UAPB (11/21) • added his 1,000th collegiate point in the game at San Francisco (11/26) • produced 15 points and four rebounds in New Orleans win (11/30) • scored a career-best 36 points, the most by a Big Ten player this season, and added 11 rebounds at Ohio State (12.3) • started the Nebraska game (12/6), but left after seven minutes due to injury • returned to the Gopher lineup vs. Maine and scored 12 points (12/29) • had a double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds during the Michigan win (1/4) • scored 14 points and nine rebounds at Indiana (1/12) • produced 30 points vs. Iowa (1/14) • had a game-high 22 points at Michigan State (1/18) • produced a game-high 20 points in the win at Penn State (1.27) • scored 20 points against Northwestern, including 9-of-11 from free-throw (2/3) • had 18 points at Iowa before leaving the game early due to injury • tied a game-best 24 points at Purdue (2/15) • scored 22 points in Ohio State win (2/22) • had 29 points at Illinois (2/28) • scored 30 points and nine rebounds at Northwestern (3/9) • added a team-high 19 points in Big Ten Touranment vs. Michigan State (3/14) • had 25 points at Butler (3/19).

2022-23 • SOPHOMORE SEASON
Team captain • All-Big Ten Honorable Mention • Minnesota’s leading scorer and rebounder when he averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game • ranked 10th in league scoring • started in all 25 games he competed in, missing five due to an injury • shot 45.7 percent from the field and 34.5 from three • totaled a team-high 398 points and 173 rebounds • made his Minnesota debut vs. Western Michigan (11/7) and scored 23 points and seven rebounds • had 19 points vs. DePaul (11/14) • had a team-best 17 points in the Central Michigan win (11/17) scored game-winner with 6.8 second vs California Baptist (11/21) • had 18 points vs Chicago State (2/22) • scored 14 points and nine rebounds at Wisconsin (1/3) • had 19 points and career high rebounds (15) against Nebraska (1/7) • produced a game high and tied a career-best 28 points in the win at Ohio State (1/12) • had 17 points vs Illinois (1/16) • returned to the Gopher lineup vs. Penn State (2/18) after missing five games due to a bone bruise and led the Gophers with 23 points • had 18 points and eight boards at Illinois (2/20) • scored 15 points and team-best eight rebounds at Maryland (2/23) • had a double double 11 points, 14 rebounds at Nebraska (2/25) • tallied 19 points, seven boards in the win over Rutgers (3/2) • added a team-best 18 points, 13 rebounds in the BIg Ten Tournament win over Nebraska (3/8).

PRIOR TO MINNESOTA
Enters his Minnesota career playing in over 43 collegiate games • saw action in 16 games with the Tar Heels including 12 starts • averaged 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds • shot 40.5 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three • played at Marquette in 2020-21 • started in all 27 games his rookie season for the Golden Eagles and averaged a team-best 13 points and 6.6 rebounds • scored double-digit points in 17 games and led the Big East freshmen in scoring and rebounding, which ranked 13th and 11th overall • named Big East Freshman of the Week three times that year and later named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team • grabbed 10 or more rebounds five times • Shot 48.0 percent from the floor and 78.3 percent from the free throw line • Also made 26 three-pointers and shot 35.6 percent from beyond the arc • Earned Big East Freshman of the Week honors three times • Scored 19 points in his collegiate debut against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

PREP
Scored 2,092 points in four seasons at Prior Lake High School • a 2020 McDonald’s All-America • averaged 31.9 points and 9.7 rebounds, was a finalist for Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball Award and earned first-team all-state, all-conference and all-metro honors as a senior • averaged 27.5 points and 11.0 rebounds as a junior, leading Prior Lake to the Class 4A, Section 2 championship game • Lakers won a program-best 25 games and appeared in their first-ever sectional final as a Class 4A program • won a gold medal playing for Team USA and won Most Valuable Player honors in the 2019 U-18 3x3 World Cup in Mongolia • also was the MVP of the 2019 U-18 3x3 U.S. Championship.

PERSONAL
Parents are Stacey and David Garcia • has one sister, Madi • earned a communication studies degree from Minnesota in the summer of 2024.

SHOP HERE: DAWSON GARCIA JERSEY
MBB-NIL-Jersey-600x600