Shining Knight : Garner Seems to Be Everything Everyone Expects Him to Be

Troy Garner knows he is receiving plenty of attention. Friends, family, high school and college coaches are watching his every move.

“It can be pretty hectic,” said Garner, a senior wide receiver and defensive back for Notre Dame High. “People expect a lot from me. But I expect more from myself.”

Garner is among the area’s top college prospects. About a dozen Division I schools are interested in Garner, who likely could excel on offense or defense in college.

Illinois and Northwestern have extended scholarship offers, and Cal and Georgia Tech are expected to do the same.

Garner has size (6 feet 4, 195 pounds) and the ability to gain yards after he catches the ball. He ranks fourth among area leaders with 14 receptions for 301 yards as Notre Dame (3-0) plays host to Crespi (2-1) tonight in a nonleague game.

He also has speed. He ran the 400 meters in 48.65 seconds last May to win the Southern Section Division III championship.

Polite, humble, admittedly bashful, Garner is eager to please and eager to play. But beneath the shy exterior lies a quiet determination and a level head.

“He’s changed quite a bit since he was a sophomore,” Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney said. “I think now he believes in himself. And he works hard because he understands he has a lot of potential.”

Expectations for Garner indeed are high--those of his coaches and teammates, his mother, and the surrogate family with which he has lived in North Hollywood for the past five years.

But no one’s expectations of Garner are greater than his own.

“I want to succeed in life,” Garner said. “I just don’t want to play football and not get anything out of it. What if I get hurt and can’t do anything else? I could never be able to play football again. I think about that all the time. It would be pretty upsetting, but I still would go to college and get a degree.”

Garner has it all figured, right down to choosing business as a major. Besieged by college coaches who telephone him almost every night, Garner has a prepared list of 10 questions he asks them--most of which have more to do with academics and graduation rates than post patterns and redshirts.

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Garner is as aware as he is thankful that his life took a turn for the better when Dan and Penny Boyd, whose sons Adam and Matt play football at Notre Dame, welcomed him into their home.

Raised in Watts, Garner attended 96th Street School, where Penny Boyd was his fourth-grade teacher. The Boyds, since divorced, invited Garner for weekend visits and Troy became close friends with the boys.

“Things just evolved from Troy staying out here to him just becoming one of the family,” said Dan Boyd, an attorney.

“We think of Troy as a son. Adam and Matt call him their brother. I’ve always dealt with him the same way I’ve dealt with the boys and things have gone great. They all cooperate in the chore system. Discipline has never been a problem.”

Garner’s mother, Andrea Butler, consented to Troy’s move, although she remains his legal guardian.

Having her son removed from the dangers of living in South Central Los Angeles is comforting.

“If he was still living here he might be dead,” Butler said. “I’m serious.”

Said Garner: “I wouldn’t have these opportunities, I know, if I hadn’t moved here. If I was still living down there, I don’t know where I would be.”

Garner visits his mother frequently. But Dan Boyd and his “three sons” are four men living together.

“Troy is just a joy to have around,” Boyd said. “He appreciates having done well in sports and that is really going to help him make it to college. Going to college is what’s important to him. And not once have I heard him mention the NFL.”

A future in football is not beyond belief. Even now, Garner has a knack for making the big play. Last season, Garner caught 27 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns in a run-oriented offense that took Notre Dame to the Division III championship.

“We definitely want to get the ball in his hands more this season,” said Rooney, the coach.

Garner also had five interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns, and his 172 yards in interception returns were the most among area players.

Three of Garner’s interceptions came in a 41-8 victory over Chaminade. Garner returned one 95 yards for a touchdown, the turning point in the game that decided the Mission League title.

“It was the play that took us out of the game,” Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson said. “He didn’t have a big game against us, offensively. It was his defense.”

Most colleges are interested in Garner as a receiver, which suits him fine.

“Any way I can help a team,” Garner said. “I just want to win.”

Under the microscope, Garner might be excused for an occasional fumble or dropped pass. Two weeks ago against Royal, he dropped three passes and fumbled away a certain touchdown. He also muffed a punt, although he recovered. Still, Garner managed to haul in a pair of touchdown passes and make an interception in a 40-7 Notre Dame victory.

His miscues went all but unnoticed--except by Garner, who felt obligated to explain.

“I’ve thought about it a lot since then,” Garner said. “I got pretty down when I messed up. I guess I didn’t concentrate enough. The coach was telling me to shake it off and get back in the game. But I’m very hard on myself.”

Garner has passed the SAT and his grades are better than average. Never a strong student in elementary school, Garner discovered for himself at Notre Dame a correlation between cracking the books and making the grade.

He spends more time burning the midnight oil than he does burning opposing defenses.

“He doesn’t slink by on the grades,” Boyd said. “He’s up past midnight studying and he gets tutoring when he needs it. He might ask me for help. But the grades he gets are his own.”

Pleasantly surprising, Boyd said, is the impact Garner has made on Adam and Matt.

Adam, a junior, caught a touchdown pass against Royal in his first varsity start.

Matt is a sophomore fullback and linebacker on the junior varsity.

“When you’re around someone with his talent it’s just natural that you want to be like him,” Adam said. “And Troy has always gotten good grades since I’ve known him. I’ve worked the late hours a couple of times this year. I learned that from Troy.”

Garner sometimes finds his good fortune hard to believe.

“It’s all been like a dream come true,” he said. “But I definitely feel I’ve earned it. I’ve come a long way.”