Charles Garcia powers through the competition

For Charles Garcia, each basketball game is a bit like the epic movie "300." At 6' 10," the Redhawks' newest power forward knows that he's "gotta go to war."

But his battle extends off the court and into the classroom as Seattle U's most controversial player takes a new approach to academics.

After expecting to be signed to the University of Washington, Garcia got a surprise in June when he just missed the admission standards for the Huskies. Garcia attended Dorsey High School in L.A. and earned his associate's degree at Riverside Community College in Calif., where he played for the basketball team. He left Riverside, however, and spent some time at Yuba College focusing only on academics.

Though some have been questioning the compatibility of Garcia's rejection from the University of Washington and his acceptance at Seattle University, men's basketball coach Cameron Dollar assures that Garcia is NCAA eligible.

"He is NCAA qualified above and beyond," Dollar says. "He has his AA."

When Garcia was turned down at UW, he thought his career was over.

"Basketball is my life," he says.

Garcia started considering playing basketball overseas as an alternative.

But Dollar, the previous assistant basketball coach at UW, suggested Garcia apply to Seattle U, where Dollar was poised to take the position as head basketball coach. Garcia says his admission was as simple as that—he talked to Dollar and applied like any other student. Garcia says he spoke with no particular admissions counselor.

"They just looked at my transcripts," Garcia said.

Dollar thought it would be good for Garcia to have a small, private, hands-on academic environment. Really, he says, it was a matter of selling what Seattle U had to offer.

Since starting as a junior this fall, Garcia says he has a "lot of adjustments to make" to keep up with his schoolwork.

"It's a lot more reading," Garcia says. "A lot more taking notes."

He says he has support at Seattle U—in the form of professors, Erin Engelhardt—assistant athletic director—and his fellow teammates, who recommended he major in liberal studies.

Garcia says while he's not a "big exam guy," the individual attention of his geology professor has helped him to focus on school.

"It's nice for professors to be excited about him [just as a student]," Dollar says, "to know, ‘They're excited about me and they don't care what I can do [on the court].'"

Garcia says his daily routine is "school, school, school, practice," and the hardest thing for him is often staying awake in class because of his intensive workouts.

He doesn't particularly have career plans, outside of basketball. But with NBA recruits stopping by Redhawks games to watch the power forward, Dollar expects Garcia will have a lucrative future in basketball. But will Garcia want to finish school before accepting potential NBA offers?

"He's not thinking about it right now," Dollar says. "You can never be mature enough before you start playing [at a higher level]."

With NBA potential and his recent history, Garcia is garnering state-wide and national attention.

"Charles is unique. He's very talented," said Bill Hogan, athletic director. "A lot of people are talking about him."

But for Garcia, he's still just adjusting to playing with a new team and learning the ins and outs of study hall.

"It's like I'm the newborn," he says. "I'm just new in the family."