It wasn’t very long ago that Charles Garcia appeared to have a promising basketball career lined up in front of him. He was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Redhawks last year, and was the key to their surprisingly successful season.
Garcia gained national recognition as a star in the making. Some of his monster dunks made highlight reels. The question wasn’t if he would make the jump to the NBA, but when.
How things have changed.
After just one year at Seattle University, Garcia declared himself eligible for the NBA draft at the end of the season, forgoing his senior season. He was undrafted, and was not signed by any NBA team.
He then took his talents to Turkey, signing with Oyak Renault. But after just two games he was done, and he voided his contract. Despite averaging more than 25 minutes and 8 points per game, Garcia was reportedly not the type of player Renault was looking for, and things didn’t work out.
So after not finding any suitable offers in Europe, Garcia returned home to the states to try and catch on in the NBA Developmental League. But he, again, went undrafted, with no D-League team suitably impressed with the ex-Redhawk to give him a contract.
All this has taken place over a shockingly short timespan. Last December Garcia was being talked about by scouts as a potential 1st-round NBA draft pick. Last March he declared for the draft. Eight months later, he was undrafted, unsigned, and with a disintegrating career. What’s gone wrong?
As someone without any inside knowledge, it appears there must be something going on with Garcia – or his agent – behind the scenes. Based strictly on his basketball skills, and more importantly, potential, he seems to be a perfect project for some team to take a chance on. His coaches (and most other observers) thought he needed another year at Seattle U to mature. It’s very possible that coaches are seeing things in Garcia that they don’t like that aren’t necessarily obvious to those of us watching him play in person or on TV.
Regardless, Garcia’s career recently has finally taken a turn for the better. He was just signed by the Utah Flash of the D-League, and has played about 25 minutes total in two games with the team. He’s got a long way to go, but there may yet be a chance for Charles Garcia to capitalize on all that potential he showed in his time at Seattle U.
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