Dawson Garcia Enters the Transfer Portal

North Carolina sophomore forward Dawson Garcia has officially entered the NCAA transfer portal.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Dawson Garcia has officially entered the transfer portal.

In his 16 games for Carolina, Garcia averaged 9.0 ppg while shooting 40.5% from the field and 37.5% from three. 

The 6-foot-11, 235-pound sophomore transfer from Marquette last played for the Tar Heels on January 22 at Wake Forest, where he played 17:48 and scored seven points. He scored a season-high 26 points vs. Purdue in the Hall of Fame Tipoff.

Garcia played in UNC’s first 12 games, starting 11, before suffering a head injury early in the game at Boston College on January 2. He missed the next two games and played in just three more before leaving the team to attend to an illness in his family back in Minnesota prior to Carolina’s game against Virginia Tech on January 24.

On Thursday, February 10, it was officially announced that Garcia would not return to the team for the remainder of the 2021-22 season.

With Garcia’s departure, North Carolina’s scholarship count is now at the NCAA-allowed maximum of 13 scholarships.

Here is the current scholarship math based on everything we publicly know as of 9:00am ET on April 13:

As you can see in the graphic above, that number does not include Leaky Black, however, and there has been speculation for awhile that Black would return to Chapel Hill to take advantage of the extra year of COVID eligibility granted by the NCAA. Players taking advantage of this extra year have previously not counted against a team’s scholarship count, however multiple coaches have confirmed to All Tar Heels that that rule will change starting in 2022-23. These players now will count against the 13 scholarship quota.

What does that mean? Should Black decide to play one more year, UNC would need to see at least one other player transfer or leave for professional opportunities in order to clear a scholarship space.

Stay tuned in to All Tar Heels for all your UNC roster information as more news comes out about transfers, signings, and NBA Draft declarations.