Marquette Golden Eagles started their offseason workouts last week. The optimism from the fan base is sky-high. It is higher than it’s been in years. With most of the Marquette Golden Eagles back, there is reason to believe that the team could be good right out of the gates for Shaka Smart. But there might not be one player joining them. Dawson Garcia announced yesterday on Instagram that he will be entering the NBA Draft. Garcia will not be hiring an agent though, so, he could come back. The time to withdraw isn’t until July 7th. Marquette would likely welcome Garcia back with open arms if he goes that route. I’m not surprised that Garcia is checking in on the NBA.

There are a couple of reasons why it makes sense for Garcia to get an idea from scouts on where he stands in the draft. The first is that he has loads of potential. He is still a young player and maybe some teams would express interest in him in the late first round. While it is his choice and he can do what he wants, I never understood guys who stayed in the draft if they didn’t know guaranteed money was coming. The second is even if Garcia knows he will not get drafted high this year, he can get feedback from scouts on what to work on, so, he can take his game to the next level in his sophomore year at Marquette.

It’s hard to think that Garcia will stay in the NBA Draft. If you look at mocks, Garcia is nowhere to be found. This does not mean what he’s doing is a mistake, rather, it seems like the young Minnesota native knows that the draft boards are not kind to him at the moment. Things can change at a moment’s notice, but Garcia would have to make a real push to get into the first round. At this point, it would surprise me if Garcia stayed in the draft. But you never know.

He has to do what’s best for him.

Charlie.