How Kyle Nott went from DI baseball player to DII football star at GVSU
ALLENDALE - How does a Division I baseball catcher become a Division II football player?
That’s the journey that Grand Valley State junior Kyle Nott is on right now. The Jenison High School grad committed to play baseball at Central Michigan University. But it didn’t feel right, so he transferred to GVSU.
“It was a different journey,” Nott said. “But coming here was a dream of mine. And I was kind of missing that when I was at CMU. So coming here, and being able to play both sports, is big for me.”
Nott, a 6-foot, 195-pound wide receiver on the Lakers football team, was one of nine players to score a touchdown on Saturday night in a 65-7 win over Kentucky State University.
GVSU (4-1), the No. 4 team in the country, got touchdowns from Tariq Reid, Nott, Gavin Coussou, Jordan Davis, Donovan Johnson, Grant Hart, Sam Plate, Kenneth Jones and Stone Smeenge.
GVSU coach Scott Wooster was happy to get most of his roster into the game on Saturday.
“I’m so proud of a lot of the young guys, who were playing in that atmosphere for the first time in Lubbers (Stadium) underneath the lights,” he said. “Late in the second quarter, when they started to get subbed in, there was a little discombobulation. But we settled down.”
Nott caught a 47-yard pass from Cade Peterson in the first quarter for a touchdown. He also had a run of 68 yards. He has two receiving touchdowns this season and is fourth on the team with 156 yards receiving on just six catches.
Nott, the son of GVSU Sports Information Director Tim Nott, was running around GVSU since he was a little kid.
“I remember during football practices when I was a kid,” he said. “I’d be out there playing catch with some of the players. I looked up to those guys. Growing up here, it’s a surreal feeling being out there myself now. It’s something I’ve dreamt of. And to have it become a reality is an honor.”
But once the football season ends, he grabs a bat and gets ready for the baseball season.
“I really should be swinging the bat right now,” he said with a laugh. “But I don’t pick up a bat until the (football) season is over. I’ll do it over winter break.”
Nott, an outfielder, hit .323 last season and led the team with 65 hits. He also was second on the team with 37 RBIs.
Offensive lineman scores first touchdown
Jordan Davis might be the largest “receiver” in GVSU history. The 6-foot-5, 295-pound offensive lineman - who wears the number 74 - got caught a one-yard pass for a touchdown with 12:28 to go in the second quarter.
“We planned it all week,” said Davis, who is from Detroit. “I didn’t expect it to be like that. I expected to be no (defenders) around and walk in the end zone. I had a celebration ready and everything. I didn’t get to none of that because I got tackled. Everyone was hitting me on the helmet (in celebration). I’d never been in the end zone in my life. To feel how a running back feels, that was amazing.”
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It was the first reception for the big man, who was First-Team All-GLIAC last season and GVSU’s Offensive Lineman of the Year.
“J.D. has meant so much to this program,” Wooster said of Davis. “He’s been here for 6 1/2 years. Gonna graduate in a couple of months. His leadership - what he does for this football team and for me - just to see him get in the end zone is just so special.”
Defense had four sacks
The Lakers defense was swarming the Kentucky State offense for the first two quarters. They had four quarterback sacks - all in the first half - and Christian McCarroll, a defensive lineman, had a sack in the end zone for a safety with 55 seconds left in the first half.
“We talked about just not giving them an inch,” said GVSU linebacker Abe Swanson, a native of St. Charles, Ill. “RIP Dick Butkus, I just watched a video on him. He didn’t want to give up a yard. So when it comes to this defense (at GVSU), just that mentality, it means so much for this team.”
The Lakers defense held K-State to negative 19 yards rushing and just 157 yards overall.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kyle Nott went from DI baseball player to DII football star at GVSU
