DeAunte Hunter Discusses Syracuse Official Visit

The Peach State linebacker was impressed by the Orange.

Mike McAllister | Jun 22, 2021

DeAunte Hunter Discusses Syracuse Official Visit /

One of Syracuse football's top linebacker targets in the 2022 class is Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes backer DeAunte Hunter. AllSyracuse.com caught up with Hunter, who took an official visit to Syracuse over the weekend.

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Q: How was the visit and what stood out?

Hunter: "One thing that stood out was how friendly everyone was there. The athletes, the ones that were already there, the players that showed us around."

Q: Who was your player host and what was it like hanging out with him?

Hunter: "My host was Mikel (Jones). The coaches paired me with him, and he told me a lot of things about New York. They let us go out with him for a night and let him show us the city by himself. It was fun. We went out at night most of the time. During the day we hung out with the coaches. Then the one night we went bowling, did go-karts, went out to eat a couple times. It was fun. I went with Quan (Peterson) and the other recruits too."

Q: What did you think of the campus and facilities?

Hunter: "The campus surprised me. Campus was big. The weight room was big too."

Q: Which coach did you spend the most time with?

Hunter: "I mostly spent time with coach Achuff. I was with coach Achuff the most, and then he handed me over to Mikel at night. He was asking me how my day was going, how I like it up there."

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Q: Were you able to meet with head coach Dino Babers?

Hunter: "At the end before we left. Had a conversation with the head coach, then we had a conversation with coach White, also. The sit down with coach Babers was about recruiting. To be open to every school and not really to speed it up, but as you go around on visits and unofficial visits, weight the pros and cons and see what you want to do after that."

Q: Where does Syracuse stand with you after the visit?

Hunter: "Syracuse will definitely be one of my top 10 schools as I list them on July 1st. I'm not sure when I'll decide yet, but it will probably during next season or after that."

Hunter also holds offers from West Virginia, Cincinnati, Kansas, Ole Miss and others.

Published Jun 22, 2021

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.