Grambling State and Tennessee State are the first HBCUs to offer the class of 2026 defensive end Thaxton “T.K.” Cunningham. Cunningham will suit up for Johns Creek High School in Georgia as a freshman this fall.
“It’s great that I am able to do this in the eighth grade,” Cunningham told HBCU Gameday. “I get to see what I am working toward and it drives me to work harder so that I can get there.”
Cunningham currently holds seven collegiate offers including Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, and the University of Central Florida. Grambling State was his first division one offer and he recently visited Coach Eddie George at Tennessee State. An HBCU is certainly an option for the young defensive end.
“Right now I visit a lot of power 5 colleges and I only visited the one HBCU Tennessee State,” He explained. “It is definitely a different experience than you get from power 5.”
“Although the facilities may not be as nice or as good as a Georgia, FSU, Tennessee, it is still a great experience. The coaching staff was really great at Tennessee State. I did not know how many coaches that had NFL experience were there. It was a great experience and when the next four years come and it is time for me to make a decision and put that hat on during signing day I just have to see what it is.”