Tavius played two seasons at Guelph and probably would've finished there had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian U Sports League cancelled its 2020 season, but Tavius didn't want to stop, so he started to explore the idea of taking his talents to America.
"Indirectly, COVID was a blessing because it gave him that opportunity to really test himself," Junior said. "He was starting to take flight. I certainly was behind him."
Tavius' college roommate and friend, Jake Bennett, helped him put together a highlight tape. The task of distributing it to American colleges was taken up by Eric Tillman, a longtime general manager for several CFL teams and former Senior Bowl executive director. Tillman had once extended the first Senior Bowl invitation to a Canadian university player, Tyrone Williams, a cornerback who played six seasons between the NFL and CFL.
"I've always felt that there are a lot of really good young athletes in Canada," Tillman said. "I've always felt like it was sort of an underutilized resource in terms of the United States."
Nobody from America had even given Tavius a sniff when he was coming out of high school. After they saw his massive size (with room to grow) and relentless play on film, he was suddenly the Canadian treasure some of the biggest NCAA programs fought over.
Jay Hobson, then the head coach at Southern Miss, called Tillman back within 30 minutes of getting the tape and said they were going to offer Tavius a scholarship. It looked like Tavius was going either there or San Diego State until Ole Miss, Tillman's alma mater, stepped up to the plate. Tillman sent Robinson's tape to Tom Luke, the assistant athletics director for player development, who got it to Head Coach Lane Kiffin.
"I said, 'Tom, look, there's a young man from Canada who's very raw, but I think he has significant upside,'" Tillman said. "'I think he can play in the SEC with a year of development, whether as a starter or as a quality rotational guy.'"
Ole Miss and Kiffin eventually bought in and not even then-LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, who started blowing up Tavius' phone, could convince him to decommit.
"He said, 'I've made a commitment to Ole Miss and I think I should honor it,'" Tillman said. "That tells you who he is. In this day and age, it's refreshing."
Tavius could have taken a redshirt year but opted against it. He ended up starting five games. He considered declaring for the NFL Draft after a strong second season but decided to return. After Tavius had a breakout third season with seven sacks, the Ravens drafted him in the fourth round ahead of at least one AFC North rival who was also interested.
"Going from Guelph to Ole Miss, I can't even comprehend how much of a change that would be and step up in competition," Ravens defensive end and fellow Canadian Brent Urban said. "His growth over the years has been so fast. Five years ago, he was at Guelph. It's remarkable."