South Carolina defensive line coach Travian Robertson suffered significant personnel loss at his positions after last season. To offset that, he’s gone out and recruited five newcomers for his defensive tackle spots, two from high schools and three from the Transfer Portal. His newest grab is Georgia Southern transfer Troy Pikes (6-4 285).
Pikes is a native of Atlanta who spent two seasons at Georgia Southern redshirting his freshman season then playing in 13 games last season and totaling 13 tackles. Pikes also took official visits to Georgia, Georgia Tech and Ohio State before visiting USC last weekend. Robertson and company just won him over with how they run their business.
“They are very straight forward guys, guys who I feel like will get my game to the next level where I’m trying to go,” Pikes said. “The scheme and the fit that the guys have had previous success in is kind of similar to what I do on the field. Those guys like TJ Sanders who just got drafted, that’s kind of how my game is a little bit, so I feel like it will be a great fit for me.”
Pike made major strides on the field from his first season to his second in Statesboro. That kind of football growth led Robertson to go quickly after him once he was in the Portal.
“They see me coming in and contributing right away,” Pikes said. “That’s all I’ve been hearing, just coming in and being able to help this team win more ballgames. That’s what I’m here to do. My ability to be as big as I am and be able to move, and also to run sideline to sideline, I feel like that was really a key think as to why Coach Robertson was interested in me. My ability to play in the backfield a lot. I’m kind of always in the backfield, and that’s kind of what they do.”
The Gamecocks got the final official visit in this recruiting contest, and that turned out to be beneficial for them as they were able to show Pikes just a little something extra that convinced him to make Columbia his home for the next year or two at the least.
“All those programs are great programs and they treated me very good,” Pikes said. “It just came down to where I felt like was home. I’m not trying to be a guy who is going to hop back into the Portal. Wherever I wanted to go is going to be where I was going to be trying to get to the NFL. That’s something I’ve always dreamed of, being able to play at the highest level (SEC) with some of the best guys. Just seeing that happen for me a little early in my career, it just shows how much growth I can get and how much better I can get to get to the NFL.”
Pikes is back at Georgia Southern finishing up his classes. He said he will arrive at USC in late May or early June to begin his work with the Gamecocks.