It is one of the most exciting days of the year for high school athletes as they participate in the great American sports ritual known as “Signing Day”.
Yesterday, many of these young athletes were able to select a school in which they’d like to advance their athletic career. Some schools get their dream athlete, others are caught off guard by the student’s decision, either way, it’s an exciting time. Well, we got an absolute bombshell from No. 2 ranking recruit in the country, CB Travis Hunter, when he chose to flip his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State.
A Coaches Influence On Travis Hunter
One of the driving factors in this decision could have been from legendary football icon Deion Sanders, as he’s the head coach of the football program at Jackson State. Sanders has an incredible reputation in the NFL and that might speak to students, who are considering making their decision. Sanders also had the kind of moxie that some kids dream of when playing, with touchdown celebrations and being one of the most dominant NFL players of all time.
Another possible factor could be Jackson State itself as Travis Hunter mentioned the history of the school in his statement on Twitter. He stated, “I am making this decision so that I can light the way for others to follow, make it a little easier for the next player to recognize that HBCU’s may be everything you want and more.” Jackson State is a member of the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, so it can be seen as a step down from the other big colleges like Florida State. However, Hunter is seemingly taking the path less followed for athletes of his skill level in hopes of something greater, a change of view for people after him.
The “Gray” Area With Barstool Sports
It might raise some eyebrows when they hear that Deion Sanders is a content creator for Barstool Sports, a sports media company that reached a sponsorship deal with Travis Hunter. Now, when you put the two together, it makes sense to be wondering if Hunter made this deal in cooperation with committing to Jackson State.
In response to this, Barstool Sports founder, Dave Portnoy, tweeted to a response with “no comment.” Figuratively, this can be seen as basically buying a player to play for a certain school. Although CBSSportsradio analyst and LeagueofJustice founder, Amy Dash, broke down the specifics of what would happen if the company actually broke the law defined by the state of Missippi. However, she writes that the NCAA wouldn’t want to pay for the resources required for an investigation and that the state doesn’t want to enforce the law.
This is all a lot of speculation into why Travis Hunter made his decision and we may never get the full answer as to why. However, if we’re leaving the money out of it, he’s going to a place that clearly has reputation behind with Sanders. The money could be potentially life changing, and will bring up the bigger question of student-athletes getting paid.