University of Minnesota men’s basketball star Dawson Garcia, hailing from Savage, Minn., has earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors from both coaches and media, as announced today by the conference. The senior forward’s latest accolade marks his third consecutive year receiving All-Big Ten recognition. Last season, he landed on the media’s second team and the coaches’ third team, an improvement from his honorable mention in 2022-23.
Standing at 6-foot-11, Garcia wrapped up the regular season with an average of 19.1 points per game—good for fifth in the Big Ten—while leading the Gophers with 7.5 rebounds per game, ranking seventh in the conference. In Big Ten play, he upped his scoring to 19.2 points per game, placing fourth league-wide. Across 31 games, Garcia notched 26 double-digit scoring outings, 17 games with 20+ points, and three 30-point explosions.
His 17 20-point games tied Nebraska’s Brice Williams for the conference lead, with 11 of those coming against Big Ten foes. Garcia also snagged Big Ten Player of the Week honors once this season after averaging 25.5 points in wins over Iowa on the road and then-No. 15 Oregon at home—a week that followed his buzzer-beater heroics against Michigan.
Garcia’s 592 points this season set a new personal best and rank 10th in Minnesota single-season history. He posted seven double-doubles, up from four last year and three in 2022-23, and is on track to lead the Gophers in both scoring and rebounding for a third straight year—something last accomplished by Austin Hollins from 2012-15.
With 1,535 career points at Minnesota and 2,030 overall as a collegian, Garcia sits 10th in program history (excluding vacated games) in just 88 games. He’s also hauled in 614 rebounds in maroon and gold, becoming the 22nd Gopher to hit the 1,000-point, 500-rebound milestone.
Alongside Garcia’s honor, redshirt sophomore Kadyn Betts from Pueblo, Colo., was named Minnesota’s Sportsmanship Award recipient. After playing in eight games last season, Betts doubled his action this year, appearing in 22 games and logging 106 minutes.
The Golden Gophers secured the No. 12 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, set for March 12-16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. They’ll tip off against No. 13 seed Northwestern tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. on Peacock and KTLK (1130 AM/103.5 FM), with the winner advancing to face No. 5 seed Wisconsin on Thursday.
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