Introducing rising Collins Hill (Ga.) defensive back Syr Hunter

It’s been a busy week for Nebraska as we have been all over the Huskers’ run of three commitments over a four-day span from Saturday to Tuesday.

And we detailed names that have been hanging in the air for a while over the past few months who elected to commit elsewhere on Thursday and Friday.

Today, though, we want to introduce a new name in this space who we could see more and more over the coming year or two: Collins Hill (Ga.) defensive back Syr Hunter.

Hunter, a 5-foot-8 and 140-pounder, is still incredibly young. He is only in the Class of 2026, so he hasn’t even begun his high school career officially yet.

But he hails from the same program that housed superstar Jacksonville State signee Travis Hunter (five-star athlete and No. 1-ranked overall player in the 2022 class), Missouri signee Sam Horn (four-star quarterback and No. 6-ranked pro-style quarterback in 2022), Tennessee commit Ethan Davis (four-star tight end and No. 7-ranked tight end in 2023) and Jayden Davis (three-star 2023 Louisville safety commit).

Hunter is set up for success with the coaching that will be at his disposal and the competition level he will face in the talent-rich landscape of Georgia high school football – adding into the fact he is in Suwanee, Georgia where too many high-profile blue-chip talents have arose to list them all. He is entering a program that competes in the highest level of state (Class 7A) for a program that went 27-3 over the last two seasons including a 15-0 state championship last season.

He is also being trained by Oliver Davis, who has trained NFL cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey, Jeff Okudah and Jaycee Horn – in addition to AJ Harris (the No. 3-ranked cornerback in the 2023 class), Tony Mitchell (an Alabama signee and the No. 5-ranked cornerback in 2022) and Avieon Terrell (a Clemson signee and the No. 12-ranked cornerback in 2022).

So, Hunter will have plenty of resources at his disposal. Whether or not he makes a name for himself to follow in the footsteps of some of those recent standouts will largely be up to him.

But the one thing that is for certain: He’s a name to keep in the back of the mind as his high school career gets started.

His recruitment, meanwhile, has already started, and that has featured a long list of unofficial visits this summer as he has taken the first steps to get his name out there and his film in front of college coaches.

Hunter has already taken visits to Clemson, Duke, Georgia, North Carolina, NC State, South Carolina and Tennessee. One of the key visits he says he is looking forward to the most, though, is a planned weekend trip to Lincoln in September for the Huskers’ big-time rivalry game against Oklahoma.

Hunter is already familiar with Travis Fisher and some of his work with the Huskers, but that weekend will serve as the backdrop to gather more information about the staff and the program.

“The coach I know the most about is Coach Fisher,” Hunter told Inside Nebraska. “I really like the DBs he is bringing to Nebraska and making the DB room very competitive .I like the fact he has played in NFL and played DB so he is very knowledgeable.

“I am looking forward to meeting with Coach [Scott] Frost and Coach Fisher and building a relationship with them. I am also looking forward to being on campus for a game.”

The Huskers have already shown their interest in Hunter early on in the recruiting process as a safety prospect, which is the spot Hunter says most college coaches see him transitioning to at the next level.

“Nebraska is looking at me as a DB. I’m playing safety and some corner depending on what defense we are in at Collins Hill,” Hunter said. “They like that I’m a student of the game, great technique, my coverage skills and my ability to make plays and hit violently when I need to.”

That Sept. 2-4 weekend is when we could see Hunter’s recruitment start to see a bigger uptick. We have already seen it this summer in regards to Nebraska being one of the first, if not the first, to offer a young up-and-coming player before that player gets more attention nationally.

It happened with Louisiana cornerback Ju’Juan Johnson, who the Huskers offered on June 3 before Johnson’s recruitment exploded with double-digit offers, including from Alabama, LSU, Texas and Texas A&M. And it’s possible it could happen with Carmaro Mayo, another Louisiana cornerback who Nebraska offered on June 17 and who is likely to see his own national name rise over the coming months.

Could it happen with Hunter, too?

Nebraska has made it a focal point to get in on recruitments before a lot of others, so it’s possible that is in the cards.