Garcia was originally a recruit of nearby Washington, before being denied admission. He landed across town at Seattle, reuniting with Dollar, who served as GarciaÕs main recruiter at Washington before Dollar took the Seattle job. And he quickly became the unknown prospect putting up huge numbers.

Garcia scored 20 or more points in eight of his first 10 games, at one time leading the country in scoring. He scored 30 at Portland, 27 against Weber State and popped for a season-best 41 against Wofford. Those numbers caught the attention of NBA scouts, who became regular fixtures at nearly every game Garcia played. It also brought attention to a Seattle program playing its first full season of Division I hoops as part of its transition back to the top level of college basketball after once being a West Coast power a half-decade ago.

But the second half of GarciaÕs season was at times a struggle. He had trouble adjusting to teams focusing their defense on him and was benched at one point by Dollar for his lack of effort. Garcia also started coming off the bench at the end of the season. Garcia averaged 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds as the Redhawks finished the regular season 17-14. Seattle is holding out hopes of playing in one of the lower-level postseason tournaments.

If Garcia is drafted, he would become the first Seattle player taken in the draft since Jawann Oldham and Carl Ervin were taken in the 1980 NBA Draft. Twenty-seven Seattle players have been drafted in school history.

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