Travis Hunter Jr. (born May 18, 2003) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

and wide receiver for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

. He previously played for the

Jackson State Tigers The Jackson State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Conference affiliation Jackson State University's athletic teams participate in the Southwestern Athletic Confe ...

, where he was the highest-ranked prospect to ever commit to an FCS school. Hunter transferred to Colorado in 2023, winning the Paul Hornung Award and earning

consensus All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

honors that season.

Early life

A native of

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, Hunter moved to Georgia as an eighth grader. He attended

Collins Hill High School Collins Hill High School is a public high school in Gwinnett County, near Suwanee, Georgia, United States. The school is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools. The only school which feeds into it is Creekland Middle School. Collins Hill wa ...

in Suwanee, Georgia, where he played

and wide receiver for the Eagles. As a sophomore, he led the county with seven interceptions while recording 49 receptions for 919 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a junior, Hunter made eight interceptions and 51 tackles in addition to catching 137 passes for 1,746 yards and 24 touchdowns, earning MaxPreps Georgia Player of the Year honors. He also set

Gwinnett County Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton C ...

single-season records in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, leading the Eagles to a 12–3 record and an appearance in the Class 7A state title game. As a senior, Hunter recorded 76 receptions for 1,128 yards and 10 touchdowns on offense and 23 tackles, four interceptions, and a forced fumble on defense, even after missing five games due to a mid-season ankle injury. In the state title game, he made 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, as well as a forced fumble, to cap off a perfect 15–0 record and Collins Hill's first state championship in school history. In his final high school game, Hunter made 10 catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns in their 40–36 defeat to Washington state champs Graham-Kapowsin in the GEICO State Championship Bowl Series. He also broke the Georgia state record in career receiving touchdowns, previously held by Braxton Hicks, with 48. Hunter was selected to play in the 2022 Polynesian Bowl, where he won Offensive MVP honors after recording five receptions for 54 yards, in addition to an interception on defense.

Recruiting

Hunter was considered the number one overall recruit by both

247Sports.com 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite be ...

and

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, as well as number two by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

(behind

Walter Nolen Walter Nolen (born c. 2003) is an American football defensive tackle for the Texas A&M Aggies. He was rated by ESPN and ''USA Today'' as the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 college football recruiting class. Early years Nolen played high school foot ...

). After having received a scholarship from

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

in November 2019, he committed to the Seminoles on March 3, 2020, one day after making his first visit to the school. He made his choice over offers from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Clemson,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, Georgia,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, among others. On December 15, 2021, Hunter flipped his commitment to the

coached by

Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons ...

, a Florida State alum, in an unprecedented move. He had visited the school the month before, attending their sellout

Soul Bowl The Soul Bowl is an American college football rivalry between Jackson State and Alcorn State. Mississippi's two largest historically black colleges and universities have played over 80 times in the game dating back to the late 1920s. The game ha ...

victory on November 20. As the number one recruit in the nation, Hunter became the first five-star recruit to ever sign with an

HBCU Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

or FCS school. Dustin Lewis of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' called it "probably the most shocking decision in the history of college football recruiting" while Steve Wiltfong, the national director of recruiting for

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

, said it was "the biggest signing day moment in the history of college football".

College career

Jackson State

Hunter recorded two receiving touchdowns and two interceptions in the Jackson State

spring game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, which was the first HBCU spring game to ever be nationally televised. Hunter made his collegiate debut in week 1 against Florida A&M, but did not record any statistics. In the win, Hunter sustained an undisclosed injury that kept him out five games. Hunter returned in week 7 victory against

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

where he had four receptions for 24 yards. In week 10, Hunter recorded his first collegiate touchdown as well as his first interception against

Alabama A&M Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshal ...

. In week 11, Hunter had two receptions for a season high 49 yards and one touchdown against

Alcorn State Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. ...

. He also recorded an interception for the second consecutive week. In the

2022 Celebration Bowl The 2022 Celebration Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2022, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The seventh annual Celebration Bowl, the game featured the Jackson State Tigers, champions of the Southwestern A ...

, Hunter had four receptions for 47 yards and two touchdowns. As a freshman, Hunter accumulated 19 total tackles, eight pass breakups, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and one defensive touchdown in seven games played. On offense, he added 18 receptions for 188 yards and four touchdowns.

Colorado

Hunter transferred to the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

in 2023, following Jackson State head coach

. In his FBS debut, Hunter played 147 total snaps across offense and defense in a 45-42 upset win over the TCU Horned Frogs. In the win, Hunter had 11 receptions for 119 yards and three tackles with an interception on defense. In week 3, Hunter sustained an injury during Colorado's overtime victory over rival

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, that sidelined him for the next three games. Hunter returned from injury week 7 against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

where he hauled in a season high 13 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. In week 8, Hunter caught two interceptions against number 23 ranked

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. In week 9, Hunter had eight catches for 98 yards and a score against number 16 ranked Oregon State. In week 11, Hunter had four receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown against Washinton State. In the season finale, Hunter caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. On the season, Hunter hauled in 57 receptions for 721 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, he recorded three interceptions and 30 tackles. He totaled 1,102 snaps including 475 on offense, 631 on defense and 32 on special teams, averaging 114.7 per game. He was named a 2023

Consensus All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

and second-team All-PAC-12. Hunter was also named recipient of the Paul Hornung Award.

College statistics

Personal life

Hunter's father, Travis Sr., played in the Florida Football Alliance and the Southern States Football League, winning the latter's Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2007. Hunter has NIL deals with companies such as

Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood. Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to: People * Greenwood (surname) Settlements Australia * Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region * Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth C ...

and several of Michael Strahan's brands. He was one of the cover athletes for '' EA Sports College Football 25'' along with Donovan Edwards and

Quinn Ewers Quinn Tucker Ewers (born March 15, 2003) is an American football quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Ewers attended Ohio State University in 2021 before transferring to Texas in 2022, where he became their starter. He is noted for being the fir ...

. Hunter is engaged to his

high school sweetheart Childhood sweetheart is a reciprocating phrase for a relationship (but not a partnership) between young persons. This may come about by an extension of friendship, physical attraction or develop from natural affinity. The relationship is usually ...

, Leanna Lenee.

Notes

References

External links

*
Colorado Buffaloes bio

Jackson State Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Travis 2003 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football wide receivers Players of American football from West Palm Beach, Florida People from Suwanee, Georgia Players of American football from Gwinnett County, Georgia Jackson State Tigers football players Colorado Buffaloes football players All-American college football players