Northwestern lands three-star CB Garnett Hollis

Garnett Hollis found out over the last month that you can't beat a "12."

The three-star cornerback rated his official visit to Northwestern in May as "about a 12" on a scale of 1-10. He then visited his other two final schools, Purdue and Vanderbilt, earlier this month, to see if either one could knock the Wildcats out of the top spot.

What he found was that neither could measure up to Northwestern. So he waited until Saturday, his birthday, to announce his commitment on Twitter.

A tall, rangy cornerback who stands 6-foot-1 ("almost 6-foot-2," he says), Hollis chose Northwestern over a total of 18 other schools, including 12 from the Power Five. He held offers from a total of six Big Ten programs, including Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Hollis, from Franklin (Tenn.) Battle Ground Academy, is the 14th member of the Wildcats' 2020 class, which is currently ranked 23rd in the nation by Rivals. He is the second cornerback in the group, joining Jaheem Joseph.

Hollis was one of seven uncommitted prospects who took an official visit to Northwestern on May 17-20. He is now the third of those seven to commit to the Wildcats.

He told WildcatReport after his official visit that he was impressed with the tours of the campus and Chicago, and blown away by the "awesome" football facility. But it was a one-on-one meeting with Pat Fitzgerald that stood out the most.

"He really kept it real with me," Hollis said. "He told me some real-life things, and he didn't sugarcoat it. He told me that I could be a good player for them, but that I would have to work hard and go through some trials and tribulations.

"At the end of the day, that's why you can't go wrong with Northwestern. They have a great academic program and the players do well in life after football. I really liked that the most."