Troy Barnes was a star football player in high school. He went to school with Annie, but they were not friends. Troy becomes best friends with Abed Nadir and for a short time dates Britta. He finds that he is a genius in the fields of air conditioning repair and plumbing and is courted by the deans of both departments. Troy will inherit $14,000,000 from the late Pierce Hawthorne's estate if he completes a trip around the world in Pierce's yacht. He left school in early 2014 to complete this task.