Tell me if you’ve heard this story before… Coach Deion Sanders and The Jackson State Tigers land 5-Star Cornerback …, yes you’ve heard the story before as it was just a few months ago that Travis Hunter, the nation‘s top cornerback committed to Jackson State. Since then, Travis Hunter and Jackson State have been on tear, starting on ESPN where Mr. Hunter had an unbelievable showing nabbing multiple interceptions and highlight reel touchdowns at Jackson State Spring Game. Mr. Hunter then appeared on the cover of Sports Ilustrated, with Coach Sanders and his son Sheduer Sanders, as the first HBCU players to grace the cover in 25 years
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(https://www.si.com/college/hbcu/hbcu/hbcu-athletes-graced-sports-illustrated-covers)
So if you believe Travis Hunter’s decision influenced recruits before, how do you think it will influence them now? Since Mr. Hunter’s announcement, Jackson State has become a fixture in almost every African-American 4 or 5-star recruit’s Top schools list, and that trend is continuing with Class of 2024 6’2 , 5-Star cornerback Desmond Ricks and 2025 DL 6’1 295lb Tyler Parker. n
On July 9th, Ricks released his top 10 schools including, LSU, Oregon, Miami, Ohio State, USC, Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida, Oklahoma, and Jackson State. Ricks said that he could see himself playing at all 10 of the schools he listed and that those were the schools he was in communication with the most, according to On3 Media. Ricks has yet to visit Jackson State. Hearing from Coach Sanders latest podcast appearances he may save those visits until Jackson State’s Homecoming, seeing how effective the event was at solidifying the interest of Hunter. Ricks described Jackson State as a “Top Program” and said that they along with the other 9 schools have a great coaching staff. n
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Ricks has visited Alabama, Florida, LSU, and Miami, and stated that he has the best relationships with Miami and Alabama. Jackson State was able to land Hunter because of Hunter’s expressed desire to want to be the best and learn from the best. That aspect of Jackson State could be alluring to Ricks as well as the 5-Star talent has stated that he is mainly focused on his development and watching the type of talent that the school produces in the coming season.
The 14 year-old “Man-Child”, Tyler Parker has recently lit up social media platforms with a shirtless picture and an elite level muscle pose that sent college scouts running for their laptops. Jackson State was among some of his first college visits, that also included Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Ole Miss, and LSU. In a recent video posted on Tyler’s YouTube Channel from Jackson State visit Parker stated,
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“Man that’s crazy, we really at Jackson State with it, I Believe, shoot. I mean I didn‘t say I would go to an HBCU, but Deion probably gon change (me), I don’t know” Parker seemed impressed with the locker room, and the conference room, where followers of Coach Sanders would typically see his “vintage” team meeting videos. Parker seemed quite enthusiastic to meet Coach Sanders and recorded parts of their conversation. One of the areas where Jackson State has proven ability to develop talent is on the defensive line where just last season they converted transfer linebacker James Houston into the second leading sack producer in the FCS. Houston was drafted by the Detroit Lions as one of four HBCU players drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Coach Prime has elite recruiting ability, as proven by his 2022 recruiting class, and it seems that there is a real possibility that signing multiple 4 and 5 star talented players could become “ a norm” in the near future for Jackson State.
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