by Andy Hilton, recruit757
Grassfield Lineman Michael Garrett (Photo: Stacey Rhea)
Grassfield ran their way to a 9-1 regular season record in 2011. The offensive line bulldozed their way through opposing defenses and big man Michael Garrett was a part of that dominance. The Grizzlies will miss him, but he’s moving on to play college ball. Garrett’s an academically inclined kid. He was courted by Ivies, but found his college home in Williamsburg.
Mike had a few options. He was hearing from Cornell and Columbia. Davidson (NC) was working hard to get him. It took two visits to William & Mary, but in the end, the Tribe got him.
“I took an unofficial visit in December around Christmas break,” Garrett explained. ”Few of the students were on campus so I was not able to get the vibe of how life is at William & Mary. I still enjoyed it. I took an official visit two weeks ago and I loved it. Coach Solderitch, my recruiting coach, invited me up on a Thursday and I brought my folks with me. The players that I talked to were very cordial and I had a great time talking to them.”
For Garrett, William and Mary offered a perfect balance. He could stay closer to home and play, plus he could get a top flight education at one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious universities.
“What tipped the balance for me was the opportunity to play Division I football, but also be able to get a great education,” said Mike. “The locker room and weight room were both state of the art, and they play on a turf field which is really exciting.”
Garrett visited Davidson in order to have a school to compare William and Mary to, but the fit wasn’t there.
“I took an official visit to Davidson College in January, and it was a great school, but the atmosphere was not what I wanted,” he explained.
Michael will be a preferred walk-on at William and Mary, meaning that he won’t have an athletic scholarship until he earns one on the field with the Tribe, but he’ll have a roster spot and could earn academic scholarships.
The recruitment is a feather in the cap of Grassfield Coach Martin Asprey, who’s grown his program year by year and is now seeing more of his players going off to play college ball at high profile institutions.
- Andy Hilton
