Five-star Class of 2020 power forward Dawson Garcia made his college commitment to Marquette on Wednesday afternoon. Garcia, a Minnesota native, ranked as the No. 31 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings, chose the Golden Eagles live on CBS Sports HQ over the in-state Golden Gophers, Memphis and Indiana.
His pledge gives Marquette a third commitment in its 2020 recruiting class, all of whom are ranked inside the top 100. He joins four-star power forward Osasere Igdodaro and four-star power forward Justin Lewis, giving the Golden Eagles a three-player class that consists of players standing 6-foot-7 or taller. Of the three, the 6-foot-11 Garcia represents the tallest incoming recruit, towering over the 6-foot-7 Lewis and the 6-foot-9 Ighodaro.
"I felt like part of their family there," Garcia said on CBS Sports HQ of why he chose Marquette. "They've been recruiting me for a long time. I can see myself fitting in there and doing some serious damage in the future."
The size of Garcia is what stands out, but so does the skill. For a long and lanky big man, he's ultra-skilled as a rim protector and has huge upside long-term as a potential NBA prospect. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander compared his skill set favorably to that of former USC star Bennie Boatwright, a versatile big who had a tremendous college career.
"He's a 4/5, can shoot from deep, can switch off ball-screens on defense," said Norlander of Marquette's latest addition. "Some big schools wanted to get involved, but he had mono this summer, and since he had mono, he did not play the full slate of games. Some coaches who would have seen him and otherwise been intrigued by him didn't get the chance. I would expect him to enter and be an immediate impact player as a freshman. This will be an intriguing freshman a year from now in college basketball."
While Garcia's commitment is figuratively big for a Marquette program coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last season, it's literally big, too. His 98.81 247Sports Composite ranking makes him the third-highest Marquette commit in program history, according to 247Sports' all-time recruits history, surpassing productive players like Markus Howard, Joey Hauser and others.
"I've seen what they've done with guys in the past like me, just allowing them to play and be versatile. Guard 1-5 on the defensive end, get the ball off the rim, push and be a playmaker," added Garcia about why he chose the Golden Eagles. "They want me to come in from Day 1, do what I can do and be a leader on that team."
In the end, Marquette won out over in-state Minnesota despite the Golden Gophers' best efforts. They offered him first among all Division I programs and recruited him well over a year, but Marquette, his second Division I offer, proved more enticing, ultimately beating out a slew of high major programs that offered him late in the process -- Kansas, North Carolina and Texas Tech, among others -- to land his commitment.
