Redshirt Junior cornerback, Ayden Garnes, spoke to the media following practice Monday afternoon. The upcoming season will be his first as a Mountaineer after transferring to WVU from Duquesne, a team that played in Morgantown last season.
Garnes dove deep into the reasoning behind transferring. Out of high school, he was not a very high rated recruit so Garnes said he knew he was going to have to work and at the halfway point last season he knew he had what it took to lay at the power-five level.
When it came to choosing WVU, the matchup last season where Garnes and Duquesne took on WVU in Morgantown played a huge factor in the decision to become a Mountaineer, “that first touchdown when the musket went off, it scared me a little bit. That’s when I knew we’re in West Virginia.”
Another factor during that game that Garnes remembers is the crowd. Despite it being a rain-delay game against a smaller school, the corner was shocked by there still being “around 30-40 thousand fans there.” He said it all made the decision a “no brainer.”
Expected to be a starting cornerback week one for WVU, Garnes said that he put on 17 pounds since his arrival in January and currently sits at 180 lbs. Garnes gives credit to WVU’s nutrition program for the growth.
“Nutrition wise was a whole different scenery. My first week I think I put on four pounds. It was a blessing. It was a whole different ball game over here.”
Garnes feels much more confident in his ability to play better run defense with the added weight and is still confident in his speed.
