A fairly serious legal “situation” prompted then-Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin, of all people, to yank a scholarship from D.J. Hunter back in 2009.
Two years later, the cornerback is headed back to the Div. 1-A level.
According to Charleston Daily Mail, Hunter has enrolled at Marshall and will play football for the Herd beginning in spring practice.
Hunter was a four-star recruit out of Middletown, Ohio, and rated by Rivals.com as the No. 17 CB in the country in ’09.
A couple of weeks before signing day in 2009, Hunter was charged with felonious assault after allegedly shooting a 15-year-old boy in the face with a BB gun, giving rise to the question of whether “Hunter” is actually a surname or a nickname. Shortly after word of the arrest came to light, Kiffin pulled the scholarship offer.
That wasn’t the only legal issue Hunter has encountered, however. In May of 2009, Hunter was charged with assaulting a former girlfriend after allegedly choking the 17-year-old victim until she was unconscious -- in addition to punching and hitting her in the face repeatedly -- after forcing her into his car and threatening to kill her. That was the second time he had been arrested for assaulting the same girl.
Oh, and he also reportedly had “one brush with the law as a juvenile in July 2008”, although it’s unclear if that’s related to the first alleged assault of a female.
All of that and, less than two years later, he’s back on scholarship. Hooray for talented athletes getting multiple second chances, I guess.