Las Vegas native makes college hockey commitment to Arizona State
Las Vegas native Dominic Garcia, a junior player in the North American Hockey League, gave his oral commitment to play collegiate hockey at Arizona State next season via Twitter on Monday.
Garcia cannot sign with Arizona State until April 12, at which point coaches can comment on him. Garcia’s commitment is non-binding.
“I knew being able to be close to home in somewhere like Arizona was always a dream,” Garcia said. “ASU came calling, and it was hard to say no.”
Garcia is from North Las Vegas and attended Northwest Career and Technical Academy, which has no hockey team, for his freshman year of high school. While there, he played with the Las Vegas Jr. Storm out of the Las Vegas Ice Center, then moved to Indiana for the rest of his high school career, playing for the Culver Military Academy team.
Garcia started his hockey career playing with the Ice Cats at SoBe Ice Arena, before moving to the Las Vegas Ice Center to play more competitively. He also played one year in California.
“I never imagined hockey growing to be what it is, especially in my family, I was the first to play,” Garcia said. “Now more and more people are starting to play and it’s awesome knowing kids from our area can make it, it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
Very proud to announce my commitment to play college hockey at Arizona State University next year and help build a tradition! #ForksUp
— Dominic Garcia (@Dominic_Garcia1) March 6, 2017
Garcia becomes the second Las Vegan to join the Sun Devils, following defenseman Joey Raats, now a sophomore, who was part of the inaugural NCAA Division I team in 2015. Garcia played youth hockey with Raats, who is two years older for one season.
He is the top uncommitted NAHL player and 49th-ranked NCAA prospect of his birth year, according to NeutralZone.net, a hockey recruiting site.
Only one other Las Vegas native, in addition to Raats, played Division I hockey this season: Joe Sullivan of St. Lawrence University.
Garcia is a 5-10 forward and has 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) and 87 penalty minutes in 48 games with the Aston Rebels this season. He was previously committed to Air Force.
Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2944. Follow @J15Emerson on Twitter.
