Former GTCC esports athlete Garrett Palmer makes a move up in the world of collegiate gaming

“I graduate next May with a bachelor’s in finance. Then I’m also going to grad school at Radford to start my Master of Business Administration," said Palmer.

Garrett Palmer recently moved from a university steeped in esports to one just getting a foothold in the sport. It was an offer the esports athlete couldn’t refuse.

The 22-year-old former Guilford Technical Community College esports athlete spent a year as a scholarship gamer at Cumberland University, where he won a conference championship. In the offseason, he was contacted by Radford University about becoming a member of a relatively new esports squad and offered a scholarship from the Virginia-based university. That sealed the deal for the finance major, when Radford not only offered a scholarship for his undergraduate studies but also agreed to pay for graduate school.

“I graduate next May with a bachelor’s in finance. Then I’m also going to grad school at Radford to start my Master of Business Administration. As part of coming to Radford, they offered the master’s program as part of my scholarship and I couldn’t pass that up,” said Palmer.

The Northern Guilford High School graduate had a very successful first season at Cumberland after transferring from GTCC, serving as team captain and earning all-conference honors for the Lebanon, Tennessee college. Despite that success, Palmer didn’t look forward to the seven-hour drive back to visit family.

“I loved the people at Cumberland. However, Radford is closer to home for me,” said Palmer.

The move also offered Palmer the opportunity to be a key building block in the Highlanders’ esports evolution. He’s even playing a big role in recruitment for the team. Palmer said Radford, a member of the Big South Conference which also competes in the Mid Atlantic Esports Conference, plans to expand its roster next season from three scholarship players to several.

Palmer’s gaming area of expertise is Rocket League, a video game he describes as “soccer played with race cars.” He recently led Radford to the Mid Atlantic Esports Conference Rocket League championship while also winning the individual championship.

The Highlanders finished second in the Big South Rocket League tournament despite some unusual circumstances.

“The Big South was interesting,” said Palmer. “We got second, but one of my teammates had to drop out at the last minute for medical reasons. We had to find somebody from around campus to fill in. We finished second, so that’s not terrible.”

Even with a move toward high-level intercollegiate competition, there remains a lot of questions from non-gamers about esports, Palmer said.

“It is still very foreign to a lot of people. It’s not the first thing I talk about when I meet someone … I wait a while,” said Palmer. “I didn’t tell my girlfriend what I did until the third date. But most people are intrigued by it. A lot of my professors have asked me questions about it. They are curious about it.”

Palmer has a very regimented routine these days at Radford carrying at least 15 hours of class time a semester. He also works in the gaming center on campus three days a week and studies at night. Palmer says he’s really enjoying college life and tries to compress his gaming as much as possible.

“I also like to fill my time with other things, like running and skateboarding.”

For more information on GTCC’s esports program, where Palmer helped launch the college’s program, visit gtcctitans.com/sports/esports/index.