Colorado's Travis Hunter delivers in spotlight, sees social media payoff

Travis Hunter was once the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect.

Less than two years ago, Deion Sanders pulled off one of the most stunning moves in college football recruiting, flipping the two-way star from Florida State to Jackson State. Hunter followed Sanders to Colorado this offseason, with both making their Power Five debut on Saturday in Fort Worth against No. 17 TCU.

Coach Prime’s prodigy stole the moment, though.

The wide receiver and cornerback played 129 snaps in a game that had 160. Hunter wasn’t just on the field. He was constantly making plays. He finished with 11 catches for 119 yards, which doesn’t include the two first-half deep ball misses that only would’ve sent those numbers climbing.

His second-half performance did not disappoint. He picked off TCU quarterback Chandler Morris from inside the Colorado 5 on third down, disrupting what would have been a go-ahead touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he had a 43-yard connection with Shedeur Sanders, who broke the school record with 510 passing yards.

As Coach Prime said, Hunter showed why he is college football’s next superstar. “Travis is it,” Deion Sanders said. “We’ve got a couple guys in here who should be front-runners for the Heisman – that’s how I feel. Who did what they did?”

The rest of the college football world bought into the performance, too. Hunter has gained more than 75,000 followers on social media this weekend. Roughly 75,400, to be exact. Those numbers are only growing, too.

Five years ago, it would have been great for an athlete’s brand. But in the NIL Era, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore can monetize his social media following. In total, he now has roughly 1.4 million followers across Instagram, X and TikTok. The largest surge came on Instagram, with roughly 61,000 new followers.

Hunter currently has a $1.5 million On3 NIL Valuation, which is No. 5 in college football. The jump in his social media following will boost his valuation. Brands put significant weight on an athlete’s platform. It can make all the difference in signing a deal or not. The NIL age is catered to the top college athletes who can excel on the field and be social media influencers.

The Suwanee, Georgia, native has previously signed notable endorsement contracts with Celsius Energy Drink, the Michael Strahan Brand, Actively Black and SoHoodie. He’s tapped into his fishing hobby through NIL in deals with WaterLand Co., KastKing and Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits.

Travis Hunter learning from Deion Sanders on YouTube

The two-way star has bought in on Coach Prime’s approach on and off the field.

Hunter rocked a Sanders T-shirt in his postgame press conference from his coach’s Cowboys era. The top-ranked player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings this offseason also made a bold move when announcing his transfer commitment.

He announced he would make the commitment known when he reached 100,000 YouTube followers. Hunter’s followers made quick work of it and eight months later he holds 158,000 subscribers. For all the attention around the commitment, much of the reason he had a strong YouTube channel was thanks to Sanders. The coach has built up his own media company “Well Off Media”, which is managed by Deion Sanders Jr.

With more than 316,000 subscribers on YouTube, the account is constantly featuring Coach Prime and his players.

“The power of Deion is not just he was a star athlete in college and understands what you’re going to be dealing with,” former INFLCR CEO and Athletes.Org chairman Jim Cavale previously told On3. “It’s not just he has children who are your age who are stars now in college and understand the modern athlete. It’s not just he’s one of the best cornerbacks of all time in the NFL.

“On top of all of that, he’s building a true media company that goes wherever he goes. He has a YouTube page he’s tagging and engaging the handles of his players. He’s giving them a spotlight they can latch on to.”