Dawson Garcia named second-team All-Big Ten, was he snubbed from the first-team?

It marks the second straight year Garcia has been named to the second team.

Mar 9, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) looks up after making a three point basket during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Star Gophers forward Dawson Garcia was named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media on Tuesday. It's his second straight year being named to the second team, but was he snubbed from the first team?

Garcia averaged 19.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on 47.2/36.4/77.5 shooting splits. Among the entire Big Ten, he ranked fifth in scoring and eighth in rebounding.

The five players named first-team All-Big Ten included Purdue's Braden Smith and Trey Kaufmann-Renn, John Tonje from Wisconsin, Nebraska's Brice Williams and Michigan big man Vladislav Goldin. Williams and Kaufmann-Renn are the only two players on the first team who averaged more points per game than Garcia.

Minnesota's 7-13 record and 12th-place finish in the conference certainly hurt Garcia's chances of earning first-team All-Big Ten, but Nebraska had the same record and missed the conference tournament altogether.

Smith, Kaufmann-Renn and Tonje's spot on the first team is hard to argue, but I would push back on Williams over Garcia. Minnesota's star forward averaged only 0.9 fewer points per game, but 3.4 more rebounds per game and he shot 47.2% from the field compared to Williams, who shot 46.8%.

Garcia and Williams ultimately had very similar seasons, but Garcia's better field goal and three-point percentage, as well as fewer turnovers per game, would give him the nod in my eyes. He was also a very underrated defender all season. Garcia also averaged more points, rebounds and assists per game than Goldin, but it's hard to argue against a player who was on the third-best team in the league.

The Gophers' success as a team is the main thing that held him back, but the fact that Garcia will go three seasons without being named first-team All-Conference seems wrong. Minnesota did not have any other players named to the All-Defensive team or All-Freshman team.

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