Why Not? The Story Of Andersson Garcia
January 17, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
From the Dominican to Mississippi State, Garcia now thriving with the Bulldogs.
STARKVILLE – Why not?
The two words are tattooed on the inside of the left forearm of Mississippi State's Andersson Garcia. Observant Bulldog fans might also notice the phrase written on the sophomore's left shoe each game.
"It comes from Russell Westbrook," Garcia explains, giving a nod to MSU head coach Ben Howland's former player and the current NBA star who started the Why Not? Foundation to empower people and teach them to never give up. "For me personally, the phrase means why not keep playing hard? Why not do the good things I need to do? Everything has a why not, whether it's basketball or outside of basketball."
It's easy to say why not. It's easy to think why not. Garcia has lived it.
He had the chance to leave his home in the Dominican Republic to come to America and pursue a basketball career. Why not?
Mississippi State gave him an opportunity to continue climbing up the hoops ladder. Why not?
Garcia has now earned the chance to be a huge piece for the Bulldogs as they try to go dancing in March, and he's making the most of it. Why not?
Garcia's journey is one filled with risk-taking and challenge-overcoming. It's one that deserves attention and respect. So, let's have a look. Why not?
Shaped In The Dominican
Garcia calls the city of Moca in the Dominican Republic home. It's the place that shaped him. It laid his foundation. So it's fitting that, while you'll see 'Why Not?' on his left shoe on game day, you'll typically find 'D.R. Moca' written on the right.
And yes, as you likely could've guessed, Garcia was involved in sports from an early age. What you might not have guessed is that it wasn't basketball that originally had his attention.
"I played baseball more than the other sports," Garcia recalls. "It was really fun."
What position?
"I played outfield – centerfield," Garcia said. "My family liked me playing baseball because I was tall, and they thought I could go far in it."
As Garcia grew older though, he ran into a problem that hindered his path. Those pitches that he was once hitting? They were coming in with a little too much sizzle.
"I was getting scared of the ball when it was coming too fast," Garcia said. "So I was like, 'Nah.'"
Garcia ultimately found a new path that'd put him on the way to where he is now.
"I was walking by a gym one day and my first [basketball] coach saw me," Garcia said. "He was like, 'How old are you?' He was looking for players for a tournament they were about to play. He was like, 'You know what, I'm going to talk to your parents and see if you can play for us.' It all started from there."
A sign of Garcia's introduction to basketball is right there for the world to see whenever he's on the floor now for Mississippi State. It's on the front and back of his uniform.
"I started playing [basketball] in 2011," Garcia said. "It was in November, too, so that was an 11, too. That's one of the big reasons I wear my jersey No. 11."
Not to even mention that in November of 2011, Garcia was – you guessed it – 11 years old.
Garcia quickly picked up the game. It was obvious early on he had tremendous potential. And in a sign of things to come – he worked tirelessly to realize his promise. In fact, he worked so hard he was getting in trouble at home.
"My mom was really mad because I was spending more time in basketball than anything else," Garcia said. "I was late most of the time for school, because I was playing basketball."
It turns out, Garcia's basketball talent didn't hinder his schooling. It helped it.
A coach from Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was at a basketball camp near Garcia's home in the Dominican. (Hamilton Heights was also the high school of former Bulldog Abdul Ado.) Garcia shined in the camp, so he had the chance to come to the United States in 2018, attend Hamilton Heights and keep climbing up the basketball ladder.
For the first time in his life, Garcia was leaving the Dominican Republic behind.
Hamilton Heights To Mississippi State
Garcia doesn't hide it. It wasn't an easy transition to leave his homeland and set out on his own.
"It was really hard for me," Garcia said. "Coming to another country without knowing the language and not having many friends, it was weird. I didn't even have my family here. It was really hard for me."
Back home, Garcia's family was concerned about how Garcia's educational pursuits would fare.
"They were worried about school and it being tough," Garcia said. "They always wanted me to do well in school. They wanted to make sure I was doing everything right with my school stuff."
Worries aside, Garcia started to thrive. In his senior year at Hamilton Heights, Garcia averaged nearly a double-double with nine points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He shot 61 percent from the floor and averaged 3.7 assists per game. Garcia led his team to a 28-3 finish and a National Association of Christian Athletes National Championship. Garcia also stood out on the AAU circuit with the Atlanta Celtics.
Over the course of this period, that's when bonds were formed with Mississippi State assistant coach Korey McCray. While Garcia had opportunities to go elsewhere, once the door opened for him to become a Bulldog, he jumped through it.
"I was looking for this offer for a long, long time," Garcia said. "A big thing was that Iverson [Molinar] and Abdul [Ado] were here. I was like, 'I don't know them yet, but I think I can build a good relationship with them.'"
Garcia was Starkville bound.
Getting Comfortable In Maroon
Garcia was headed where he wanted to be, but challenges still awaited him in Mississippi. Maybe the biggest was still a bit of a language barrier.
"When Andersson was [at Hamilton Heights], he had seven Spanish-speaking teammates, so their primary language was still Spanish," Howland said. "He really had to get used to understanding English better."
A few things helped Garcia clear that hurdle. One, Mississippi State's English Language Institute pushed Garcia forward. Then, a certain Bulldog guard somewhat took Garcia under his wing.
"He's kind of like a brother to me for real," the Panama City, Panama, native Molinar said of Garcia. "We kind of come from the same background, coming from another country. We speak the same language. We understand each other on the stuff we think and stuff we talk about. It's like a Latino or Hispanic connection. It's cool to have someone else here that speaks Spanish. To communicate with our first language is way more comfortable for us. We're just happy we have each other."
Just because Spanish is more comfortable for Garcia doesn't mean Molinar has taken things easy on him.
"I won't speak Spanish a lot to him," Molinar said. "I kind of force him to speak English. He's got to understand it for him to have a successful future, whether that's in basketball or off the court."
In not even two full years at Mississippi State, Garcia's English has improved tremendously. There's very little he can't understand or express in English.
"He's come a long way and he's bilingual," Howland said. "That's a great advantage for him later in life when he leaves Mississippi State."
Garcia's game has come just as far as his speaking. He has a drive that wouldn't allow anything different. Why not go all out, right?
Garcia certainly does. Just ask Bulldogs strength coach Collin Crane.
"Andy is a player that everyone in our program loves being around and working with," Crane said. "More than anything, he's somebody I want to root for. He's somebody I want to be successful, both as a basketball player and after he's done here at Mississippi State. I think it's hard not to appreciate his work ethic, his ability to stay in the moment, his enthusiasm, his energy on the floor. He just does all the things that as a coach, you really appreciate. When it comes to training, it's the same way. He's really adopted our approach of how you do anything is how you do everything. He's really bought into training. Over the last couple years, he's put on about 20 pounds which has helped him be a lot more durable and stronger as a basketball player."
Adds Howland on Garcia's all-out effort: "He brings it every day. He never complains. He has a great attitude. The thing that's great about him is he plays so hard on every possession. He tries his hardest. He competes. He has great toughness. He's physical. And yet, he's improved. You look at his ball skills, he's probably our best post feeder, and he's our best guy at cutting without the ball. He's always moving. Always cutting. And he's a great offensive rebounder. One of the stats we keep is every time a shot goes up, if you're a three, a four or a five – small forward, power forward or center – you've got to go rebound every single time. He goes every single time like he's supposed to. Anything you ask him to do, he does it and he does it to the best of his ability. That's all you can ask of from a player… He's a fan-favorite too. Everyone loves how he plays his heart out – dives on the floor, takes charges, goes after loose balls, plays to where he gets exhausted because he's playing so hard. There's nothing any fan can't love about that."
Coaches love and respect Garcia. Fans love and respect him, too. You better believe Garcia's teammates feel the same way, even D.J. Jeffries, who Garcia gives headaches as they go head-to-head against each other all throughout Bulldog practices.
"Andy just plays hard and does all the little things people don't see," Jeffries said. "The only thing he knows is 100 percent. He goes hard every time. He makes me raise my level. Some days I come in here just trying to chill. You can't do that with Andy. He's going to go hard every time. I'm proud of him. Seeing how much he cares; he puts the work in to get better. The energy has always been there. He just loves the game. I hope he just keeps going and going and building. "
Mr. Energy
You're starting to see signs of just how much more comfortable in his own shoes Garcia is.
There was the huge second-half 3-pointer against Arkansas that gave MSU some breathing room, followed only moments later by a huge two-handed jam when Garcia flexed and screamed in celebration.
There've certainly been other moments of emotion, too, but more than any of that, his play every second he's on the floor is doing the talking.
"I feel like every team needs an energy guy and he's our energy guy," Molinar said. "He brings the effort and energy every day. That toughness he brings and aggressiveness he brings at both ends of the floor, without him, our team would be a lot different. Now, we have a little more depth and can count on him giving more than 100 percent effort. He's the energy guy and he does the dirty work – rebounds, steals, makes the right passes. When he's wide open, he makes his shots. It's just a motor in him."
All this from a guy that, really, is kind of to himself when he's not playing.
"He's a quiet dude," Molinar said. "His freshman year, I kind of had to force him to get out of his circle. He's more comfortable now."
And it's showing in all areas, most obviously on the hardwood. Garcia has scored seven or more points in three of the last four games off the bench – not to mention the numerous key passes, steals and rebounds he's recorded.
In last Saturday's win over No. 24 Alabama, Garcia played a career-most 24 minutes – a sign of how much trust he's earned.
When he's on the floor, he's become a player you just have to watch, because his next big moment could come at any time.
"He's by far my son's favorite player," Crane said. "My son sits about four rows up behind our bench and he's screaming the whole game, 'Andy, Andy, dunk it.' I have a lot of joy working with Andy and I appreciate him, but it's even cooler to see my son also have that same type of appreciation for Andy and his effort on the floor. I think that's what everyone appreciates."
You can count on Garcia to keep it up. Why, you ask? That's the wrong question, remember.
The right question is, why not?
"Mississippi State gave me an opportunity," Garcia said. "It's why I don't ever make any excuses. I try to do everything hard for the team because I'm grateful for all Mississippi State has given me."
