Prospect Spotlight: Valentin Garcia (2018)
2018 Wiregrass Ranch Valentin Garcia guard has played a key rotational part the last three years. The rising senior is looking at an expanded role this upcoming season.
At 6’4″, 200 lbs., Garcia is a bruiser. He says his junior campaign was a building stage for his school.
“We were knocked out early by Wharton in districts but we are hungry for next season,” Garcia told Prep Hoops Florida. “We only lost three seniors this year and we have a lot of returning players with experience. I learned the most about maturity and how to respond to certain situations. Next year my role for us will be a leader on the court and a scorer.”
He’s spending his second summer with Team Speights on the Powerade Platform Circuit.
Garcia says he is focused on getting better, not just individually but as a team.
“I wanted to start getting used to having to step up and being the go-to guy on my team,” Garcia said. “This summer season has been going rather good for us. We’ve had great success going to all these college team camps and proving that we can play against any team from anywhere.”
Starting his basketball life at age 11, Garcia says he truly loves the game.
He pointed to his biggest strengths as his shooting and court vision. He wants to improve on everything in his game, especially his speed and ballhandling.
“Overall I just want to get my body and myself ready for the next level so I can come in and be ready to play,” Garcia said.
No offers have come yet for Garcia, but he’s drawn interest from Florida Southern, Eckerd, Austin Peay, Montclair State, Brown, Cornell and Charleston. Wiregrass Ranch still has plenty of leaders to work with and Garcia will be a core senior piece this fall.