Prior Lake's Dawson Garcia commits to Marquette

Prior Lake five-star recruit Dawson Garcia, who kept several schools and fan bases in suspense with his decision on the last day of the early signing period, announced Wednesday that Marquette is where he will play college basketball.

The 6-11 forward chose the Golden Eagles over the Gophers, Indiana and Memphis in large part because of his strong relationship with Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski and his staff.

"I felt like part of the family there," Garcia said after the announcement at his high school. "They've been recruiting me a long time. They showed me a lot. I built my relationship with the players. I can see myself really fitting in there."

Garcia, who also had scholarship offers from Kansas and North Carolina, is ranked No. 22 nationally and No. 2 in Minnesota in the Class of 2020 by 247Sports.com.

He made a big leap in the national rankings after a breakout summer playing for D1 Minnesota's AAU program and winning MVP of Team USA's gold medal -winning team at the 3-on-3 U18 World Cup.

After Garcia took official visits to Minnesota, Memphis and Indiana, he made a second trip to Marquette earlier this month to make sure it was the right choice.

"It was just my relationship with the coaching staff and how they say they're going to use me going in from Day 1 on that campus," Garcia said. "I'm just looking forward to getting started there. Obviously, finishing up this high school season, but then getting there and doing some serious things."

Garcia is the sixth Minnesota high school player to commit to a high-major Division I program in the 2020 class. The others are Park Center's Dain Dainja (Baylor), East Ridge's Ben Carlson (Wisconsin), Eastview's Steven Crowl (Wisconsin) and Rochester Mayo's Gabe and Mason Madsen (Cincinnati).