High SchoolNCAABy Sean Keeley on

It’s National Signing Day and, given the way that the transfer portal and NIL rights have changed the playing field, we expected to see something interesting shake out on Wednesday when it came to recruits choosing where they’ll play football.

However, very few people were expecting to see one of the top recruits in the country choose the Jackson State Tigers in a last-minute switcheroo.

That’s what happened when cornerback Travis Hunter, considered the No. 1 or No. 2 ranked recruit in the country depending on the service, flipped his commitment from FSU to Jackson State on Wednesday. Hunter becomes the first five-star high school football prospect to sign with an FCS team since at least 2006.

Hunter spurned Florida State after having originally verbally committing to that school. Hunter acknowledged that the opportunity to play for a historically Black college and play for Deion Sanders was something he couldn’t pass up. He hopes to join the ranks of players like Doug Williams, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, and Steve McNair who made the jump from an HBCU to the NFL.

https://twitter.com/TravisHunterJr/status/1471166038834356237

Jackson State is, of course, coached by Deion Sanders, who has overcome assumptions that he was a glamour hire to make JSU an FCS power, going 11-1 this past season and earning himself the Eddie Robinson Award as FCS coach of the year.

The timing of the switch couldn’t be worse for the Seminoles, who are not only coming off a disappointing 5-7 season and literally gave head coach Mike Norvell a contract extension the night before, presumably in part because of the expected great recruiting class today.

It should be no surprise that such a huge recruit going to an FCS school led to some big reactions on social media in the college football world.

The wildest part might be that Hunter joins an already loaded recruiting class for the Gamecocks, which includes ESPN 300 prospects Shedeur Sanders (Deion’s son), Katron Evans, Quaydarius Davis and Trevonte Rucker.

There are a lot of takes to come on this decision. Chief among them has to be, just how much is Deion Sanders’ star rising in the coaching world?

[Travis Hunter]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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