MORGANTOWN — Beanie Bishop was a major success story in West Virginia’s secondary last season. Bishop went from being a part-time player with the Minnesota Golden Gophers to a consensus All-American during his lone season in Morgantown.
Perhaps looking to duplicate that success, the Mountaineers brought in four transfer cornerbacks this offseason who all fit the same mold as Bishop.
“It’s an easy sell when you can say this guy came in for six months and we made him a consensus All-American,” WVU secondary coach ShaDon Brown said. “The proof is there. It’s not coach-speak when you can show that.”
Ayden Garnes (Duquesne), Garnett Hollis (Northwestern), TJ Crandall (Colorado State) and Dontez Fagan (Charlotte) all transferred into WVU this offseason to hopefully stabilize the cornerback position.
Garnes was the first of the group to commit to WVU, and also the one most familiar with the Mountaineers as he played against them with the Dukes last season. Despite WVU beating Duquesne 56-17, Brown said Garnes impressed him.
“We watched a lot of the film against us and he did a really good job,” Brown said. “He’s been a pleasant surprise.”
Garnes, a junior, made a strong impression on coaches throughout practices in the spring and grabbed an interception in the spring game to impress upon the fans as well.
Hollis and Crandall were also on the team this spring.
Hollis, who came over with fellow Northwestern defensive back Jaheem Joseph, started all 13 games for the Wildcats last season and had 49 tackles, one interception and three pass breakups. Brown described getting Hollis through the portal as a “steal.”
“I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Brown said. “We’re doing some things differently than he did at his previous stop, but he’s a guy that’s really made a huge jump.”
The youngest of the transfers is Crandall, who will only be a sophomore this season.
“Most of the time when you bring in a transfer you think that young man is a junior or senior, well he’s still a freshman,” Brown said. “He played one year; he was at Colorado State for one semester. He’s doing a good job of learning what we’re doing.”
Crandall started five games as a true freshman for the Rams last season with one interception.
Fagan transferred late and just got to Morgantown this summer. In one season at Charlotte, the senior played in all 12 games and made nine starts.
The top returning cornerback is junior Jacolby Spells, who played in 12 games last season.
Redshirt freshman Jordan Jackson also has the chance to carve out a role this season.
“The guy that’s made probably the biggest jump has been Jordan Jackson,” Brown said. “Is he a finished product? By no means is he there yet. But being a redshirt freshman he’ll have a chance to help us this fall.”
Rounding out the returners are Deuce Shabazz II and Jayden Bell. Incoming freshmen are Keyon Washington (Waldorf, Md.) and Christopher Henry (Dunnellon, Fla.).
Projected Depth Chart
Cornerback
Ayden Garnes, R-Jr. (Duquesne)
Garnett Hollis Jr., Sr. (Northwestern)
TJ Crandall, So. (Colorado State)
Dontez Fagan, Sr. (Charlotte)
Jacolby Spells, Jr.
Jordan Jackson, R-Fr.
Deuce Shabazz II, R-Jr.
Jayden Bell, R-Fr.
Keyon Washington, Fr.
Christopher Henry, Fr.
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