MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 02: Deion Sanders of the NLF 100 All-Time Team is honored on the field prior to Super Bowl LIV between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)Deion Sanders didn’t mess around with his first recruiting class as head coach at Jackson State. His Tigers team has the best recruiting class in the FCS level, and one that beats out a large chunk of the FBS level as well.
With 16 players set to join the team, Jackson State’s class ranks No. 84 in 247Sports’ composite rankings. It’s a pretty incredible accomplishment for a first-time college coach, and one who was hired midway through the recruiting cycle.
Of course, the Deion Sanders name and reputation deserves most of the credit here. It is no surprise that Coach Prime has been incredible on the recruiting trail, so far.
He landed three composite four-star players in the 2021 class: quarterback Shedeur Sanders, his son who had been committed to FAU, former Georgia cornerback commit De’Jahn Warren, and former Florida wide receiver commit Trevonte Rucker. That number of blue-chip commits is more than all but 31 FBS programs.
Hey @EASPORTS, we have the first cover ready 🎮 #IBelieve x @DeionSanders pic.twitter.com/zZzeJCXlyc
— Jackson State Football (@GoJSUTigersFB) February 2, 2021
Sanders also did impressive work in the transfer portal. Those players don’t reflect in the recruiting ranking, but they could be just as, if not more, impactful this year.
His son Shilo Sanders comes in from South Carolina, where he was a solid contributor at cornerback. Jackson State football also adds Isaiah Bolden (Florida State, DB), Dylan Spencer (Missouri, OL), Nyles Gaddy (Tennessee, LB), Aubrey Miller (Missouri, LB), Abdul Malik-McClain (USC, OLB), Keith Corbin (Houston, WR), Greyson Thompson (North Texas, QB), Corey Reed (Louisville, WR), Coynis Miller (Auburn, DT), Tony Gray (UCF, OL), Javorrius Selmon (Mississippi State, CB), and others.
Jackson State’s class ranks higher than a number of prominent FBS programs, including Pac-12 school Oregon State, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, UAB, Liberty, Army, Navy, Temple, Tulsa, Hawaii, Colorado State, ECU, and Buffalo.
