Dawson Garcia had just scored a season-high 31 points and provided outstanding defense in the Gophers’ 77-69 upset of then-15th-ranked Oregon last Saturday. The senior forward from Savage would go on to win Big Ten player of the week after the U’s biggest win so far this season.
It could easily have been all about Garcia postgame, but the star player insisted his news conference open on a different protagonist: Josh Hansen.
Who?
Over the past three years, the Gophers men’s basketball team — and its star player, in particular — formed a bond with Hansen. The Rochester teenager battled acute lymphocytic leukemia — a blood and bone marrow cancer. He passed away on Jan. 9 at age 18.
“(Josh) was a part of our team,” Garcia said. “… Special kid, great heart, beautiful soul. And, so, if you guys could all extend your thoughts and prayers to his family and just make him known because he was a great kid. We shared a lot of great memories with him. Touched us, for sure.”
Garcia’s tribute from the podium at Williams Arena soon reached Josh’s family — father George, mother Monica and sister Leah — in southern Minnesota.
“Really touching,” George told the Pioneer Press. “It kind of blew me away. Their program has just been amazing. And Dawson’s such a high-class individual. He’s always been so nice to Josh. They really seem to click when they were together. Dawson really took a lot of time this summer.”
The Gophers athletics department has become intertwined with Team IMPACT, a nationwide organization that pairs children facing serious illness/disabilities with college teams. The goal is to create enriching experiences for both sides.
The Gophers football team forged relationships with Woodbury’s Mitchell Starken over the past few years. The U volleyball team has been paired with multiple kids; the women’s basketball, men’s and women’s hockey, gymnastics, soccer and softball teams also have participated in the program. Wrestling and track and field on are Team IMPACT’s waiting list, a spokeswoman said.
Rochester, Minn. teenager Josh Hansen, right, is photographed with Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball player Dawson Garcia during Garcia’s visit to Hansen’s home on Sept. 14, 2024. (Courtesy of George Hansen)
The Gophers men’s hoops game Saturday against Washington is the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, a partnership with the American Cancer Society. The Hansens and friends will be in attendance at Williams Arena, where a pregame moment of silence will be held for Josh.
When Josh got sick in May 2022, his family discovered Team IMPACT through social workers at Mayo Clinic. His parents felt it would be a perfect fit for Josh, an athlete and big sports fan, especially of the Timberwolves.
The Gophers gave the Hansens an open invitation to pretty much any game they wanted to attend. But it was hard with Josh’s cancer treatments. They made it to two or three games during the 2022-23 season. That January, Josh had his first transplant and was in the hospital for about a month.
The following spring, the Gophers held a “signing ceremony” for Josh, giving him the full blue-chip recruit experience. Josh and Monica held up a white No. 13 jersey, with head coach Ben Johnson’s arm around Josh’s shoulder. They did it front of a maroon and gold backdrop and behind personalized name cards.
“It was so cool,” George said. “That was a highlight for him.”
The Gophers gave the Hansens some behind-the-scenes, insider treatment, as well. They would have lunch with players in the cafeteria at Athletes Village, toured the practice facility, and included him in the team’s offseason softball game. He was invited to watch practices and game-day shoot-arounds at The Barn —and take half-court shots with players afterward.
“It was just really, really neat for him to kind of see a Big Ten program and how it ran,” George said. “Just kind of hang out with some of the guys a little bit. They just made it special every time he came up, he loved playing ping pong with some of the players down in their locker room.”
There also were above-and-beyond hangouts. Former U center Jack Wilson and current forward Erick Reader found out about Josh’s love for fishing and invited him up to Minneapolis to put some lines in the water in July 2023.
Last September, Garcia drove roughly 90 miles to the Hansen home, played video games with Josh and took him out to dinner.
“I thought it was awesome,” Johnson said. “It’s all spearheaded by just genuine care. I think that is one of the unique things. It wasn’t like I had to force guys to be engaged, I had to force guys to care; it was actually something that they wanted to do. They did stuff without me even knowing or finding out (about) later that they did — just because that is who they are.”
Rochester, Minn. teenager Josh Hansen, center, goes fishing with Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball players Erick Reader, left, and Jack Wilson in Minneapolis on July 25, 2023. (Courtesy of George Hansen)
Both Johnson and Garcia were impressed by Josh’s toughness.
“I loved that he was a fighter, and every single day his circumstances, it was tough,” Garcia said during that press conference. “He was fighting for his life, but every day he was with us, he showed up, and he had a good spirit.”
That’s who Josh was. “He never focused on the illness so much,” George said. “It was always about, ‘What do I have to do next to get better?’ He didn’t complain. He didn’t focus on that. He didn’t want to be the kid with cancer. He wanted to be a normal kid.”
While he showed resolve, the Gophers buoyed his mindset. College basketball wasn’t a passion for him before the U and Team IMPACT.
“That gave him something that he could he could focus on; he could follow the team, he could follow their progress,” George said, his voice cracking over the phone. “Even if we couldn’t go up to the games, it was something for him to be excited about and feel included.”
George said when others bring up Josh, they almost always mention his kindness.
“He cared about other people,” George said. “I really appreciated that about Ben Johnson and his program, because they showed Josh such kindness and included him.”
Josh played soccer, basketball and tennis on teams at John Marshall High School before he graduated in spring 2024. His goal was to become a civil or environmental engineer, and he was accepted into the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He planned to enroll at the U last fall before his cancer relapsed.
“He wanted to be a Gopher,” George said. “He was … he was excited about being a Gopher.”
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