Senior forward and leader Dawson Garcia taking a break from practice to rest an injury ended up benefiting the Gophers men’s basketball team in a variety of ways this summer.
As Dawson Garcia recovers from surgery, Gophers men’s basketball team sees others emerge in summer practice
Gophers leading scorer Dawson Garcia is resting a foot injury, and forwards Kadyn Betts and Frank Mitchell have taken advantage of more summer reps.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 31, 2024 at 7:31PM
The Big Ten’s top returning scorer had left foot surgery in July, but he’s on pace to be fully recovered when official practice for the 2024-25 season opens in early September.
“If you see him now, he’s bouncing around the gym,” Gophers coach Ben Johnson said during his summer wrap-up video call Wednesday. “I know he’ll be ready to go.”
In Garcia’s absence, the Gophers were able to give others more opportunities in practice to showcase how they could make an impact in the frontcourt this season, including redshirt sophomore Kadyn Betts.
The 6-8, 220-pound Colorado native played sparingly in his first year after sitting out as an early high school graduate, but Betts is arguably the team’s most improved player this offseason.
“This was a big summer trying to find out what other guys can do,” Johnson said. “I thought KB took a big advantage of it. He’s done a really good job this whole summer of taking his game to another level.”
Primarily known as a shooter as a four-star recruit in the U’s 2022 class, Betts has developed into an all-around player, able to contribute on both ends of the floor.
“He’s got a true opportunity,” Johnson said. “He’s done a good job when we’ve gone live this summer of being confident, being aggressive. Not just being a guy who shoots threes but who can drive it. He can make plays in transition and be versatile defending multiple positions.”
Betts could see meaningful minutes in a Minnesota frontcourt that lost starting center Pharrel Payne (Texas A&M) and backup forward Joshua Ola-Joseph (California) via the transfer portal.
Payne’s exit was the biggest blow because he had the potential to be a star in the Big Ten as a junior after making significant strides playing alongside Garcia last season.
Replacing Payne’s inside presence could be a three-man job among returning senior Parker Fox and newcomer transfers Frank Mitchell (Canisius) and Trey Edmonds (Texas San Antonio).
A Toronto native, the 6-8, 240-pound Mitchell ranked fourth in the nation in rebounding last season, but he has also impressed the Gophers with his mobility and expanded offensive repertoire.
Don’t be surprised to see Mitchell leading the half-court offense at times in a role Johnson called “point center,” utilizing his court vision and playmaking ability.
“Frank’s a guy who has really taken advantage of this summer,” Johnson said. “Underrated baseline-to-baseline rim-runner. A guy we knew rebounding would translate, and he’s shown that this summer. Really good passer. Kind of reminds me of Eric Curry, who we had in Year 1.”
Getting Garcia back was obviously a major priority for Johnson.
Garcia, a 6-11 former Prior Lake standout, has spent more time in the weight room while recovering, but he also has put on his coaching hat. He learned different aspects of the game enough to teach his teammates.
“Dawson had to present a scout and acclimate our guys on how we do scouting,” Johnson said. “He’s going to coach a team when we divide into groups to play. I think it’s good to see from a coaching side what it looks like.”
The Gophers football team had plenty go right in Saturday’s 48-0 victory against Rhode Island, including the first big collegiate plays from highly touted freshman Koi Perich.
