Virginia Tech safety Devon Hunter has been cleared to return to the football team by Head Coach Justin Fuente, per a noon announcement from the athletic department.
https://twitter.com/devonhunter11/status/1399760165453377541
Last month, Hunter pled guilty in Montgomery County to assault and battery of a family member. He was originally charged with a felony, but he accepted a plea deal that dropped his charge to a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to two years in jail, but with 23 months and 28 days suspended.
Once Hunter’s felony charge was pled down, that greatly strengthened his chances of returning to the football team. With a felony charge no longer on his record, his ability to make it through "student-conduct protocols" became much more likely, and once those hurdles were cleared Justin Fuente was quick to reinstate him. Fuente has always praised Hunter as one of the hardest-working players on the team.
Hunter was a 4-star, top 100 recruit coming out of Indian River High School in Chesapeake, VA. However, his career didn’t get off to the fast start that many thought. After playing special teams as a true freshman in 2017, he redshirted in 2018 and saw spot duty behind Reggie Floyd at rover in 2019. He has played 268 defensive snaps in his career, and he was projected to compete for a starting position in 2020 before his arrest.
Hunter could potentially factor in at free safety, strong safety or whip, though based on what we saw in the past it appears that strong safety is probably his best position. Already 23 years old, Hunter will be a redshirt junior in 2021.
We'll have more on Hunter's reinstatement, including how he could factor in on this year's defense, in a TSL Pass article on Wednesday.