The Golden Gophers’ Dawson Garcia enters tonight’s home game averaging 25.5 points per game for his 3-1 team. His average through four games is the Big Ten’s best.
Garcia, a senior, plays for a team that has struggled to score points and may do so all season. The 6-foot-11 center-power forward has scored 102 of Minnesota’s 158 points this season. The next closest scorer to him is guard Lu’Cye Patterson with 34.
If the Savage, Minnesota native from Prior Lake High School wins the league scoring title after the 2025 season he will be the first Gopher to do so since Kris Humphries in 2024. Humphries, a high school All-American at Hopkins High School, led the Big Ten in both scoring at 21 points per game and rebounds, 9.5 (stats are league games only). He was the first freshman in league history to accomplish that.
Other Gophers who have won conference scoring titles dating back to 1948 are: Tom Kondla, Quincy Lewis, and Mychal Thompson (twice), per Sports-reference.com.
Will Garcia join the list? Probably not, according to a former major college basketball coach who spoke with Sports Headliners on condition of anonymity.
“It’s going to be hard. He’s going to face a double, triple team every game.”
The former coach is implying if Garcia’s teammates can consistently make shots and cause foes to pay for double and triple teaming Minnesota’s star, it’s a lot more likely Garcia can win the league scoring title (based on regular season conference and nonconference games).
The source is certainly an admirer of Garcia who averaged 17.6 points and 6.7 rebounds last season. Garcia was second-team All-Big Ten as selected by the media and is now on national watch lists for postseason awards.
“He’s really a great player,” the former college head and assistant coach said. “He’s worth the price of admission.”
Garcia, listed at 234 pounds, is averaging a team-best 7.3 rebounds. He is unselfish and a good passer. He can score inside and out, including a pro range three-point shot. He’s making an impressive 57.1 percent of his threes.
“He’s (going to be) a pro player,” said the source. “He absolutely has NBA potential.”
Garcia’s mobility with and without the basketball fits the flexibility of today’s NBA that emphasizes position-less players who can handle the ball. A question about his pro future potential might be development of his lower body strength.
The Gophers have a rebuilt roster after a breakthrough 9-11 Big Ten record in 2023-2024 that followed two last place conference finishes under head coach Ben Johnson. Garcia is one of only two returning starters and Minnesota is a popular choice to finish near the bottom of the league standings.
“It’s going to be a struggle,” the former coach said about the team’s season outlook.
Minnesota plays its fourth nonconference game tonight against 3-2 Cleveland State. The Gophers, averaging a modest 64.5 points per game against so-so competition, are fortunate to have Garcia who initially spurned his hometown team coming out of high school and played at both Marquette and North Carolina.
With Name, Image and Likeness money reportedly involved, the Gophers lost two of their better starters via the transfer portal after last season. Point guard Elijah Hawkins is at Texas Tech and center Pharrel Payne plays for Texas A&M.
It’s believed Garcia is making six-figures via NIL at Minnesota, but he could have commanded more if not for his loyalty to the Gophers and his family.
Worth Noting
Hawkins has played in two of four games at Texas Tech, average 8.5 points per game and has a total of 16 assists. Another Red Raiders guard is Hopkins alum Kerwin Walton who started his college career at North Carolina. He made 47.8 percent of his three-point shots last season.
Payne’s playing time in four games has ranged between 17 and 24 minutes. He is averaging 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 82 total minutes.
Another transfer from last year’s team, forward Joshua Ola-Joseph who was a key reserve, is averaging 11.3 minutes in four games at Cal. He is 0-6 on three-point shots and is averaging 4.5 points per game and 2.5 rebounds.
Great news for the University of Minnesota football and volleyball programs, per Derek Burns from Dinkytown Athletes, the official Name, Image and Likeness collective of Gopher athletics. DA recently concluded its “million-dollar match campaign” with Mark Pearson’s Twin Cities-based financial services company, Nepsis.
“We did hit our number and went over slightly,” Burns told Sports Headliners Monday. Nepsis matched dollar for dollar donations, new memberships or upgraded memberships to DA through November 10.
While the DA president didn’t specify a dollar total, he said this was the most successful campaign ever for the collective which officially launched in September of 2022. DA will now target a similar campaign for February and March to benefit athletes in winter sports.
Funding success is pivotal, Burns said, when Gopher programs approach the time they and other schools across the country compete for athletes in the transfer portal. Within a few weeks, for example, football and volleyball players will be making decisions on whether to enter the transfer portal and, if so, where to go. NIL resources will also be timely for retention of athletes.
The Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov, who is second among NHL players in points with 31, makes $9 million. Although he is playing at a league MVP level, his contract value doesn’t rank in the league’s top 30 highest paid players.
Kaprizov and goalie Filip Gustavsson, whose 2.08 goals against average is best in the league, are unrestricted free agents after the 2025-2026 season. Gustavsson is playing with a $4.1 million deal this season and next. Kaprizov’s contract remains at $9 million next season.
The Lions defeated the Jaguars 52-6 last Sunday, after the Vikings beat the Jags, 12-7 the week prior. The 9-1 Lions, who lead the 7-2 Vikings in the race to win the NFC North, have scored 35 points or more three times in their first 10 games. The only other clubs to do that since the late 1960s are the 1969 Vikings and 1973 Falcons.
Interesting piece, as usual. Might be worth noting that when Humphries won conference scoring title (2003-04) and rebounds, too, Gophers finished tied for last with Penn State in 11-team Big Ten Conference, 3-13 record, 12-18 overall. That was same year that (Gopher) women’s team, led by Lindsay Whalen went to Final Four.
Marshall Tanick