NCAA Basketball: Analyzing Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia final 4 options
Marquette Golden Eagles
After firing Steve Wojciechowski, Marquette hired Texas Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart. He has a mixed record at Texas, including several underperforming campaigns on the court. However, one positive aspect was the number of big men that ended up going to the NBA Draft during his time, including Mo Bamba, Jarrett Allen, Jaxson Hayes, and now Greg Brown and Kai Jones after this past year.
Garcia arguably may have more of an offensive skillset than any of them outside of Brown and the sophomore version could be the best big man yet that Coach Smart gets to develop. With Maryland transfer guard Darryl Morsell, George Mason transfer Tyler Kolek and a top-20 recruiting class, Marquette could be very good next season with Garcia’s return. The team will just have to make the case that he’ll be better off staying with them instead of venturing elsewhere.
North Carolina Tar Heels
New head coach Hubert Davis already has a solid frontcourt to work with for next season, led by last season’s leading scorer and rebounder Armando Bacot. Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek is a double-digit scoring stretch forward with 111 career starts on his resume. And Virginia combo forward transfer Justin McCoy is a versatile and capable defender on the roster too.
Garcia adds another frontcourt piece to the Tar Heels rotation and with guards Caleb Love, Kerwin Walton, and RJ Davis in the backcourt, this would be a team capable of winning the ACC regular-season title.
dark. Next. Jalen Duren's top 5 options
What’s interesting here is that two of the four finalists here include first-time head coaches (Arizona and North Carolina), along with one in Coach Brad Underwood who just had an All-American, and then Coach Smart who has sent the most to the NBA so far. In terms of playing time and fit, Illinois and Marquette make the most sense on paper. But will they be the teams who win out in the end?