In the 1960s and ‘70s, H.B.C.U.s were often the only options for Black players to play college football, and those colleges regularly sent elite players to the N.F.L., and the American Football League, the N.F.L.’s challenger at the time.
The Tigers despatched almost 90 gamers to the professionals from the early 1960s to the early 2000s, however, like many H.B.C.U.s, confronted with restricted sources whereas competing towards Power Five applications with monumental athletic budgets, failed to draw the identical degree of expertise that they as soon as did. Fewer H.B.C.U. gamers have been drafted to the professionals lately because of this (none within the 2021 draft), one thing Sanders vowed to alter upon his arrival at Jackson State.
“This could be the great revival, the great renaissance for H.B.C.U.s,” Brandon Huffman, a nationwide recruiting editor for 247Sports activities, mentioned of Hunter’s dedication. “And I think it all goes back to Deion.”
During his first recruiting cycle with the Tigers in 2020, Sanders pulled off one of the crucial stunning commitments to that time, flipping the previous Georgia pledge De’Jahn Warren, who had been one of many high junior school cornerbacks within the nation, on the primary day of the early signing interval final yr.
Sanders had assembled the highest-rated class within the Football Championship Subdivision, the extent of Division I the place Jackson State performs. The Tigers’ 2020 class featured 19 transfers and 11 of the highest-rated recruits in program historical past, together with his son, Shedeur Sanders, who was a four-star recruit.
“This is one that may change the entire face of how recruiting is done as we know it,” Huffman mentioned in an interview.
Some have speculated {that a} profitable monetary deal attracted Hunter to Jackson State, the place Sanders has tried to assist his gamers revenue off their title, picture and likeness for the reason that N.C.A.A. instituted the rule change that allowed college athletes to make money off their fame earlier this year. If that was a think about Hunter’s determination to decide to the Tigers, it might launch an period by which gamers signal with smaller colleges merely for the potential to signal N.I.L. offers.
