LYNCHBURG -- Liberty University football coach Danny Rocco announced Tuesday that former Virginia Tech defensive back Kent Hicks has transferred to the Big South Conference school and enrolled in classes for the spring semester.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Hicks sat out this past season after leaving the Tech program in August. He will have two years of football eligibility left with the Flames.

Hicks never played a down for the Hokies after leaving Culpeper High School in 2004 as a PrepStar All-American and The Roanoke Times' No. 5 recruit in the state.

He signed with Maryland in February 2004, but matriculated to Tech when the Terrapins invalidated his letter of intent. He redshirted as a freshman at Tech in 2004 and spent the 2005 season playing on the Hokies' scout and junior varsity teams.

Hicks will be eligible to join the Flames' roster when they begin spring practice March 23.

Hicks is the second Tech player to transfer to I-AA Liberty in the past year. Linebacker Stevie Ray Lloyd, a walk-on linebacker from Jefferson Forest, played two seasons for the Hokies before transferring to the Lynchburg school last spring. Lloyd's 80 tackles led the Flames defense this past season.