Deion Sanders is in his third season at Jackson State and he’s had some big recruiting wins already in his time there. Now taking over at Colorado, Sanders could have even more at his new school.
Here’s a look at five of the biggest high school recruiting victories for Sanders.
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There has been no bigger recruiting shocker in Rivals history dating back to 2002 than Hunter, who flipped from Florida State to Jackson State on National Signing Day. There were some whispers that Hunter was looking at other schools and then as things got closer to decision time there was lots of chatter about a possible stunner. Sanders tweeted out a cryptic hint about shocking the world - and it came true. The No. 1 prospect in the 2022 class was convinced to flip from a traditional power program to play at Jackson State. Hunter has talked about playing for Sanders, who he feels is the best to ever do it at the cornerback spot, but actually being convinced of it was impressive by Sanders and his staff.
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Warren was the big shocker in Sanders’ first recruiting class at Jackson State as the former Georgia commit from Scranton (Pa.) Lackawanna C.C. was convinced to go play for Sanders rather than at Penn State or another Power Five program. The former junior college prospect has played in 10 games this season and hasn’t had a huge impact statistics-wise, but coming out he had offers from almost every major program nationally.
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The top-rated player in the Missouri state rankings and the ninth-best receiver in the 2022 class, Coleman pulled off a major shocker at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio. The St. Louis St. Mary’s standout was supposed to pick from Miami, Florida State, Oregon and USC but pulled off a surprise - after keeping it quiet all week - that Jackson State would be the winner.
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A three-star prospect from Cedar Hill (Texas) Trinity Christian who picked Florida Atlantic over Louisville in his recruitment, Sanders then flipped to play at Jackson State once his dad took the job there. It’s proven to be a phenomenal move as Sanders was discussed by some as a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender as he’s completed more than 70% of his passes this season for 3,083 yards with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also run for five scores.
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Although it didn’t work out at Jackson State and he’s not on the roster there, at the time getting Gardner was a big deal as the four-star offensive tackle from Orlando (Fla.) Jones was committed to Florida and then it looked like he could end up in the Gators’ class leading up to signing day. There were academic concerns along the way, but in terms of a football player Gardner had size and a physical presence, so Jackson State getting him at that point was big.