It was supposed to go in. It was supposed to make the sweet, crisp sound only a nylon basketball net can.
When Eric Garcia finds himself in a gym these days, sweat pouring from his face during another grueling workout, he can sometimes still see the ball he fired in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
He can still see its perfectly rotating panels fly over the lanky, outstretched arm of Arkansas’ Bobby Portis, a soon-to-be NBA draft pick, on a collision course with a March moment to remember.
“It looked good,” said Garcia, the 6-foot-1 Wofford guard by way of Grandview High School. “I thought it was going in.”
The shot would have forced overtime in the Terriers’ second-round game against the Razorbacks. Instead, the buzzer-beating heave glanced off the rim and fell to the floor.
“It was tough,” Garcia said. “It’s a shot I’ve made a million times. It stuck with me for a long time. But the way I look at it, I’ll always take that shot, and I’m proud I’ve put myself in position to take that shot.”
Garcia has forged an impressive and growing career by embracing such moments. Since heading to Wofford, he has been a starter in his first two seasons and led the Terriers to back-to-back Southern Conference championships — and the March Madness bids that came along with them.
Not bad for a guy who was only 5-foot-10 at the end of his junior year at Grandview and wasn’t even invited to Colorado’s annual “The Show” game featuring the state’s top players.
“It’s almost like a Rocky Balboa story,” said Nick Graham, the founder of the Altitude N’ Attitude Basketball skills academy, who has worked with Garcia since he was at Grandview. “Most kids aren’t willing to put in the time that he has. When he works on his game and he goes up for a shot, he’s just so focused. To him it’s like, ‘If I miss this shot, someone will kidnap my mom.’ It doesn’t matter if it is a shot at eight in the morning in June, that’s his focus.”
Garcia has returned to the Denver area this summer to work on his game with Graham and a stable of players that has included NBA guard Jimmer Fredette and Colorado guard Dominique Collier, among many others.
The revolving group trains at the spacious Chauncey Billups D1 facility in Highlands Ranch, and Garcia has spent long days this summer honing ball-handling and playmaking skills, even working out with Mr. Big Shot himself on occasion.
“That was a great experience,” Garcia said of training with Billups. “He’s someone I’ve looked up to for a long time.”
Garcia, who averaged 7.7 points and 2.5 assists per game last season, has always taken his role as a leader seriously. It’s a trait that will be pushed to the test this season as he prepares to shoulder an even bigger load for a Wofford team that lost two career 1,000-point scorers to graduation.
“He’s been able to be a game manager, but now those guys are gone,” Graham said. “Now he’s going to have to be a Brett Favre or a Peyton Manning. He’s going to have to be the gunslinger and make plays but still make good decisions.”
That’s why Graham is so eager for Garcia’s next basketball odyssey, which will begin later this month when he joins Athletes in Action for a high-level basketball tour of the Philippines that also includes Christian missionary work.
Graham also went on an AIA tour, to Taiwan, after his college playing career was over. Up until that point, he was planning on going into coaching. His time on the tour convinced him to share his love, passion and knowledge of the game in an even deeper way. He was moved to open Altitude N’ Attitude and become a hoops guru of sorts to players such as Garcia, who is now walking in his mentor’s footsteps.
“It changed my life,” Graham said of the AIA tour. “… Now it’s come full circle.”
Until he leaves for the AIA camp in Ohio in a couple weeks, Garcia is staying in Colorado, putting himself in position to take the next big shot.
“When I went to Wofford, I was just trying to get some minutes, honestly,” Garcia said. “Then, being a starter from day one, making the NCAA Tournament, it’s been a dream come true. I’ve just been blessed to do what I’ve done so far.”
Nick Kosmider: 303-954-1516, nkosmider@denverpost.com or
