ESPN.com reported on Monday that Troy has shown interest in former Auburn running back Michael Dyer. Dyer’s uncle says that Troy, Western Kentucky and Illinois State have shown interest in the back.

Dyer was a contributor on Auburn’s national championship team before incidents with drugs and weapons forced him to leave the Tigers. He transferred to Arkansas State but never played a game for the school. Dyer then began taking classes at Arkansas Baptist.

Dyer rushed for over 2300 yards in two seasons at Auburn and scored 15 touchdowns. He has not played football since 2011.

While Troy cannot comment on Dyer, it seems that the Trojans have a reason to take a look.

Troy lost its three of its top four rushers from last season and will look to a talented yet inexperienced group of backs to step up in 2013.

Western Kentucky returns star running back Antonio Andrews, who led the Hilltoppers in all-purpose yards last year.

 

Three officially welcomed to Sun Belt Conference

Texas State, Georgia State and UT Arlington were officially welcomed to the Sun Belt Conference on Monday.

The addition now gives the league 10 schools.

“We have been anticipating this day for quite some time,” said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson in a statement.

“A lot of hard work has been put in by the administrators around the Sun Belt and at these three institutions. It is very rewarding to see that hard work pay off. And while we take a moment to reflect on the process that has gotten us here, we also take focus on what this day means for us moving forward. There is no longer any time to look in the rearview mirror. With the membership that is joining us today, and the membership that will join us on July 1, 2014, we know that this conference will continue to rise in all aspects and our future is unquestionably bright.”

The Sun Belt will add four schools — Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Idaho and New Mexico State —in 2014.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Georgia State University and especially for our football program. With the leadership of Karl Benson, the Sun Belt Conference is just going to continue to take off. From a football standpoint, this conference has so many great coaches and players. We look forward to building our program into one that will compete for Sun Belt titles,” said Georgia State football head coach Trent Miles.

Texas State Director of Athletics Larry Teis shared Miles’ excitement.

“We are very excited to join the Sun Belt Conference. If you look at their success the past few years, the league has improved tremendously in all areas. Last season they had four bowl teams in football and recently four teams played in the NCAA post-season baseball tournament. Geographically, we are also in a conference with two teams from Texas, two from Arkansas, and two from Louisiana. Teams in the East are also nice places for our fans to visit and provide us additional regions to recruit quality student-athletes, Tei said.

Troy will travel to Georgia State on Oct. 12 and host Texas State in the regular season finale on Nov. 29.