West Virginia cornerback Ayden Garnes has committed to Arizona per a report from Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz of On3. Garnes played six games during his first year at West Virginia in 2024 before suffering a season-ending injury. West Virginia added Garnes after he played three seasons at Duquesne.
Garnes had 25 tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and one pass breakup for West Virginia in 2024. Those are impressive numbers playing only half the season. Garnes chose to enter the transfer portal for the second straight season after West Virginia fired head coach Neal Brown.
Garnes redshirted as a true freshman at Duquesne in 2021. In two seasons on the active roster with Duquesne, Garnes had 84 tackles, 7.0 TFLs, 1.0 sack, four interceptions, 17 passes defended, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. On3 lists Garnes as the 1,388th transfer and 161st CB in the 2025 transfer portal.
Garnes was not ranked as a high school prospect, but Rutgers was among the teams interested in him per On3. Garnes' best season was on 2023 with 51 tackles, 5.0 TFLs, 1.0 sack, two interceptions, 13.0 passes defended and one fumble recovery. His West Virginia profile page lists Garnes at 6.'0 and 175 pounds.
West Virginia cornerback transfer Ayden Garnes (@AydenGarnes1) has committed to Arizona, his agents @callmeagentdwil and @FCProspects_ tell @chris_hummer and me.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 6, 2025
Garnes, who started at WVU this year before a season-ending injury, posted an 87.4 PFF grade in 2023 while at… pic.twitter.com/QRuENXXSAr
Garnes is the third CB to transfer to Arizona in the 2025 portal. Arizona previously received commitments from Jay'Vion Cole from Texas and Michael Dansby from San Jose State. Rebuilding the secondary was critical for Arizona after losing five CBs and a safety to the transfer portal following the 2024 season.
Cole, Dansby and Garnes will all have an opportunity to come in and compete to be starters in 2025. Arizona finished 103rd nationally allowing 239.0 passing yards per game in 2024. The Wildcats were 116th with a 147.46 passer rating against, 107th with a 63,7 opponents completion percentage and 113th allowing 8.1 yards per completion.