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The 2020 McDonald’s All American Game roster was announced on Thursday, and Marquette men’s basketball signee Dawson Garcia is one of the 24 high school seniors who will be a part of the event on Wednesday, April 1st, in Houston. Garcia is the second Steve Wojciechowski recruit to be selected to play in the game after Henry Ellenson was chosen in 2015. Garcia is expected to be Wojciechowski’s first recruit to play in the All American Game, as Ellenson sat out with a hand injury at the time. Garcia is the fifth MU prospect to be selected overall since the All American Game began in 1978, following in the footsteps of Ellenson, Kerry Trotter (1982), Walter Downing (1981), and Doc Rivers (1980).
Congrats to @Dawson23lee on the @McDAAG selection! Well deserved. #mubb #hedecided https://t.co/LDkMWHiVcq pic.twitter.com/sw7kpQDjZh
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) January 24, 2020
The 6’11”, 220 pound Garcia is currently ranked #31 in the country by the 247 Sports Composite system, which marks him as the fourth best power forward in the country and the second best prospect in the state of Minnesota. At #31, it’s a bit of a surprise that he made the cut for the 24 player roster for the All American Game, but 247 ranks Garcia at #22 on their internal charts. He’s the highest ranked recruit to sign with Marquette since Ellenson, and according to 247’s database, Garcia is the third best prospect to sign with MU since the turn of the century. Along with Oso Ighodaro and Justin Lewis, Garcia is part of Marquette’s 2020 recruiting class which is currently ranked #1 in the Big East and #10 in the country. According to the always helpful Star Tribune Basketball Hub, Garcia is currently averaging 28.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game for Prior Lake High School. He’s also shooting 51% from the field, 74% from the free throw line, and 42% from behind the three-point line. REMINDER: He’s 6’11”.
If you’re looking at that tweet from the official MU account and wondering what’s up with the #HeDecided hashtag, well, take it up with the McDonald’s people. Even though Garcia submitted his letter of intent back in November, the McDonald’s office is apparently running a little behind the times. The Minnesota native is listed as “Undecided” on the official roster, but I presume that will be cleared up by the time the game actually rolls around in a couple of months.
There’s a number of familiar names to the Marquette recruiting scene on the 24 player roster. Garcia will be playing either with or against guys like Nimari Burnett, RJ Davis, Daishen Nix, and Jalen Suggs, all of whom had serious interest from Marquette as their recruiting paths wound through the last few years.
The McDonald’s All American Game will be broadcast on ESPN on April 1st, with tipoff set for 6pm Central time. If you tune in to ESPN2 on March 30th at 6pm Central, you’ll get to see the Powerade Jam Fest, which includes a skills competition for the participants in the game. It’s unclear as to how much Garcia will be doing for that, but keep it in mind.
If you’re in the Houston area, you can buy tickets to the game from the Toyota Center box office starting at $20.