Deion Sanders just picked off an elite recruit from his alma mater on national signing day.
Travis Hunter, listed as Rivals’ No. 1 recruit for the class of 2022, committed to Jackson State on Wednesday after previously committing to Florida State back in March 2020.
Hunter announced his commitment during a ceremony at Collins High School in Suwanee, Ga. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound wide receiver/cornerback had Florida State, Auburn and Georgia hats in front of him, tossing all of them aside before revealing his Jackson State shirt and sporting a “J” hat thrown by his mother.
Along with his college commitment, Hunter reportedly has a million-dollar NIL deal in the works with Barstool Sports, a company Sanders joined in 2020.
Jackson State, an HBCU located in Jackson, Miss., is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), a step below the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Hunter is the first five-star prospect to join an FCS school since ESPN started its player rankings in 2006.
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The school has a football legacy that stretches far beyond its FCS status. There have been 106 NFL draftees, 93 NFL players and four Hall of Famers from the program, highlighted by Walter Payton.
Sanders, who played his college ball at Florida State, has been the head coach at Jackson State since September 2020 and has made a habit of drawing in promising recruits. Last year, he got De’Jahn Warren, a top junior college cornerback, to sign with Jackson State over Georgia. Jackson State also has two more four-star players in its 2021 recruiting class who had offers from Power Five programs, along with Sanders’ son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
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Sanders’ team was dominant on the field in 2021. The Tigers went 11-1, beating Prairie View A&M 27-10 in the SWAC Championship Game. They will cap off their season against South Carolina State on Saturday in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.
After bringing in Hunter, Sanders and the Tigers now have even more to celebrate.
