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In a stunning move, the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2022, Travis Hunter, decommitted from Florida State to sign with Jackson State.

Wednesday is the first day of the early signing period and Hunter had already given a verbal commitment to Florida State. In an Instagram post Wednesday afternoon, the Florida native announced that he was “letting go” of his dream to play for Florida State.

“I grew up down there, that’s where my roots are, and I never doubted that I would play for the Seminoles. It’s a dream that’s hard to let go of, but sometimes we are called to step into a bigger future than the one we imagined for ourselves. For me, that future is at Jackson State University.”

Deion Sanders scores major prospect for historically Black university

Jackson State has been receiving national recognition ever since Deion Sanders became the head coach of the football program. Sanders has brought major sponsors to the HBCU such as Wal-Mart giving the university a $2.4 million endowment, a donated new turf practice football field, and Beats by Dre signing its first collegiate athlete with Shedeur Sanders.

In recent years, HBCUs have been attracting more attention. Major companies have committed to investing large amounts of advertisement dollars in HBCU’s in order to improve racial equity.

Pepsi recently released a first-ever national TV ad called “Halftime Show” that features FAMU and Jackson State University’s band while highlighting “the electricity and history they bring to game day,” 

The $3 million 60-second ad aired during the much anticipated Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship game on ESPN2 between Prairie View and Jackson State at the beginning of December.

Lighting the way for others to follow

The ad is a part of the company’s Racial Equality Journey commitment that was announced in 2020 where more than $570 million was pledged over the next five years to “elevate diverse voices within the company, supply chain partners, and communities while helping to address issues of inequality and create opportunity.” 

The commitment from Hunter is sure to spark more and more top recruits to consider HBCU’s for their collegiate careers.

“I am making this decision so that I can light the way for others to follow, make it easier for the next player to recognize that HBCU’s may be everything you want and more,” said Hunter.