FFE Week 2 Player of the Week: Kolier Pruett, Narrows

NARROWS, Va. (WDBJ) - When you size up a field this Friday night, few athletes will stick out more than Narrows senior Kolier Pruett.

“He’s got exceptionally big hands,” said Green Wave head coach Kelly Lowe. “He wears a 3X glove, so that’s a huge thing. If we get the ball thrown near him, he’s gonna catch it.”

He caught seven, to be exact, in the Green Wave’s opener at Auburn last week, for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Pruett also ran the ball three times for two more scores, returned two punts for 68 yard and, on the opening kickoff of the second half, he returned it 99 yards for a touchdown.

“The kick was a little short, so I was going to let it bounce because normally, most of the time, they don’t get it back there to me, so I kind of let it bounce,” recalled Pruett. “And then while it’s in the air, I can kind of see where my hole’s going to be before I even get the ball. But I kind of got up on it too much, and it bounced back behind me. I should have let it go, but I nicked it with my hand, so I had to go get it. And then once I picked it up, I had to get past the 20 at least, set us up in decent field position. Then I saw the right side open up, got by a guy, picked up some great blocks from my teammates, and then I just got to the sideline and it was open, so it worked out perfectly.”

The 99-yard kickoff return put a bow on a couple of weeks’ worth of highlights that Pruett displayed in just two-and-a-half quarters.

“He’s pretty special,” said Lowe. “He’s an exceptional athlete. He works extremely hard. He’s got a lot of good players around him, too.”

Pruett also excels on the basketball court and has multiple Division I offers in both sports.

“I like to get down in the paint and beat and bang and try to rebound, and the physicality helps me with football and being able to block and stuff like that,” said Pruett.

Both Army and Navy have extended hoops offers, and he has a football offer from VMI.

Coming from a military background makes those even more special.

“My dad, he was in the Army and it’s always been a part of our family, just the military background, and especially this town, too, has a military background as well,” he said. “Just being able to have the opportunity to play at schools like those is great. It means a lot to me.”

Pruett says if he had to limit his playlist to just one artist, it would be Luke Combs.

On “Any Given Friday Night,” Pruett leaves most defenders thinking, “He Got the Best of Me.”

And “even though he’s leaving” after this year, Pruett is savoring his final season in a Narrows uniform.

“I want to be remembered as a guy who came to work with his hard hat on every day, just ready to work and set the tone for everybody,” said Pruett. “[I hope people say] he was a leader. He was a great example for the younger guys. He was a guy who bought into the program and really loved it and enjoyed every moment.”

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