Garnett Hollis enjoyed his four seasons at Northwestern.
But after earning his degree and holding one season of eligibility remaining in his career, he just wanted a change.
Hollis arrived at Northwestern in 2020 and was able to play a lot of football in the Big 10 Conference as well as earn a quality education in the process.
“Me focusing on football allowed me to do well in the classroom. I was focused so much on football that the classroom kind of became second nature because you have to do both at all times,” he said. “That aspect of being a football player and a student, the whole team over there we’re here to play football first.”
But Hollis wanted something different for his final year and that led him to looking at a number of options after entering the transfer portal but eventually led him to West Virginia.
The Mountaineers offered a very different experience than the one he had in Evanston.
“I wanted to be in a college town and coming out of the portal that was one thing I wanted because I never got that at Northwestern,” Hollis said.
While at Northwestern, Hollis and his teammates had to compete with plenty of professional sports teams but at West Virginia will be the biggest show in the town. That’s what he wanted to find in a school.
“I wanted the game to be the biggest thing in the state and now I have that opportunity. Play in front of these types of crowds, these fans. This fan base is really loyal and rowdy,” he said. “We’ve got seven home games and I’m going to take advantage of each and every one of them.”
Hollis has played in front of big, rowdy crowds before at places such as Penn State, Michigan and Nebraska but the difference is that those fans weren’t rooting for him. So, he is excited to have the chance to have that working for him and seeing the crowd getting loud on third downs.
“I think that’s going to be a night and day difference,” he said.
West Virginia also had what Hollis was looking for in terms of how he would be utilized in the scheme which made it a good fit for what he wanted to find in a college program. And now, Hollis wants to close out his career with his mind avoiding distractions and focused on finding success on the field.
“Trying to win games. Go to the Big 12 championship game. That’s things I’ve always wanted to do; go to a championship game and win. Being able to have that chance now is something we talk about every day,” he said.
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