Andersson Garcia finds ‘Family’ at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION – Andersson Garcia helped set the tone for the greatest victory in Texas A&M men’s basketball history with a 3-pointer to give the Aggies an early 10-0 lead. Then, he put his right hand over his lips, blew a kiss and pointed toward the stands in the direction of his girlfriend and her mother Tuesday night at Reed Arena.

It was a sweet gesture with a deeper meaning to one of the most bittersweet moments in Texas A&M’s first victory in school history over the No. 1 team in the country.

The electric energy grew from the loud ovations during the pregame Senior Night festivities through a dominant victory all the way to the postgame ceremony in which coach Buzz Williams surprised his team and the crowd by unveiling Wade Taylor IV’s No. 4 jersey atop the rafters.

The biggest story of the Aggies’ 83-72 upset over Auburn was easily Taylor, the all-time great who sobbed as he hugged his parents after his jersey went on the rafters.

Historic victory

“I’m going to tell my grandkids I played with Wade Taylor,” Garcia said. “I rebounded the ball, and I passed it to Wade Taylor.”

Garcia has done more than that, of course. The native of Moca, Dominican Republic, has become a fan favorite in Aggieland. He’ll be remembered for generations for his contributions to A&M.

More importantly, he has become like family to Williams, his assistant coaches and the A&M players. Unlike Taylor and the rest of the seniors during the Senior Night festivities, Garcia was not joined by a parent.

Taylor and Garcia were sophomores when Garcia entered the transfer portal out of Mississippi State. Taylor fondly remembers when Garcia got on Instagram live back in the Dominican Republic before enrolling at Texas A&M. Taylor joined the IG live that day and told Garcia he was very excited for Garcia to arrive on campus.

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“I knew Andy was going to be who he is today,” Taylor said. “As soon as he got here the impact he’s made on my life and some of our lives as a player, as a brother, I pray for him.

“I know he’s not able to see his family all the time. Me being a big family guy, I really want to make sure I help him and make sure he’s not alone in however way it is. He holds a special place in my heart.”

Garcia’s family is back in the Dominican Republic. He has gone through his entire college basketball journey in the United States – first at Mississippi State for two years and then at A&M the last three – alone.

‘Really special’

The kisses he blew into the stands after each of his two 3-pointers were for his girlfriend and her mom. They were the family who stood with him during Senior Night introductions.

“I did that ‘cause my family wasn’t going to be able to come make it here,” Andersson Garcia said of the kisses. “The only family was my girlfriend and her mom. It was like really special for me to do the thing that Andy (does) in the game and bring a lot of energy.

“That was the reason why I did that because my family wasn’t here to watch me play.”

Andersson Garcia helped put on a show in his last game at Reed Arena. He collected a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

It’s a testament to Garcia’s play that Taylor and Garcia were the only Aggies who Auburn coach Bruce Pearl mentioned in his postgame press conference. The Aggies outrebounded Auburn 41-25 overall and 24-9 on offensive rebounds.

‘Dominican Rodman’

“Garcia, 11 and 11,” Pearl said. “Played hard. Not many teams outplay us or outwork us. That’s been a pretty consistent thing, but Texas A&M clearly did tonight. Clearly.”

Zhuric Phelps led the Aggies with 19 points off the bench. Taylor added 16. Junior Pharrel Payne had 12 off the bench, and senior Manny Obaseki had 10.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound Garcia was the only player on either side with double digits in rebounds. Auburn’s 6-foot-10 forward Johni Broome and Texas A&M’s Henry Coleman III and Solomon Washington each had seven rebounds.

Garcia lived up to his reputation as the Dominican Rodman. He even showed up to the postgame press conference wearing a Rodman T-shirt. He set the school’s single-season rebounding record last season with 327.

“He’s a special, special person,” Williams said of Garcia. “His family’s never seen him play. So he asked me if I could stand next to him and be his family. I said, ‘Well, of course.’”

Then Williams told Garcia that he stands for a picture with each senior on Senior Night. Garcia then asked if assistant coach Steve Roccaforte could stand with him as part of his “family.”

Buzz Williams steps in

“He said it last Thursday to the group when it was his turn to speak,” Williams. “He said, ‘everybody’s family will be there, but you guys are my family. And when college is over for me I don’t know where I’ll live because the visa dictates where I live.’

“So I think since he’s been here in the three years he’s been here we’ve tried to be his family on and off the floor.”

Garcia blew his first kiss toward his girlfriend 2.38 into the first half. Shortly after Auburn cut A&M’s lead to 28-27, Garcia subbed back in with 3.26 to play in the first half after a brief rest. He hit his second 3-pointer with 3.06 until halftime to give the Aggies a 31-27 lead before blowing another kiss. 

“It’s really tough,” Garcia said of not having his parents around. “But my team, like I say, they’ve been helping me a lot … talking about things like that. It’s like I said, they are my family. They (are) the ones who show up when I need it.”