 Garko attended Stanford University on a scholarship. He led the Stanford Cardinal baseball team in batting average in his sophomore season (2001) with a .398 clip, and was named their Most Improved Player. He helped Stanford reach the College World Series and hit .583 in the CWS. That summer, he played with the Hyannis Mets in the Cape Cod League, an amateur summer league, and batted .233 with 14 runs, 28 hits, 3 home runs, and 19 RBIs. Next season, in his junior year, Garko was named a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist. During his senior year, he won the award and was named a First Team All-American. He also shared the Pac-10 Conference Baseball of the Year Award with Dustin Pedroia, and was named the NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and Stanford's Most Valuable Player. In his time at Stanford, Garko batted .350 with 60 doubles, 39 home runs, 191 RBIs in 218 games played. He is as of 2013 fifth all-time in doubles at Stanford, seventh in RBIs, and ninth in batting average and home runs. His only problem at Stanford was that he had trouble with controlling his weight. On May 6, 2010, Garko was voted on to a 28-member College World Series Legends Team as a part of a commemoration of the final College World Series in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. The team was voted upon by college baseball fans, college baseball writers, and Division I head coaches.
