All will be part of his third big roster remake at Colorado, this time without two of the best players in school history – two-way star Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of the head coach.
The recruiting class currently ranks No. 37 nationally according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, which is fourth in the Big 12 Conference behind TCU, Baylor and Kansas State. Texas ranks No. 1 overall, as of Wednesday afternoon.
But high school recruiting is only part of the strategy under Sanders. The transfer portal for transfer recruits opens on Monday, when Sanders vows to “hit that portal like it hadn’t been hit before.”
“My biggest impression overall is that high school recruiting was taken a lot more seriously this year after he loaded up on the two portal classes (since 2023) and really got some elite players in this class,” said Adam Gorney, national recruiting director for Rivals.com. “It wasn’t just filling out a roster on top of the portal guys… Obviously, JuJu Lewis is the star of the show here.”
Signing JuJu Lewis shows Sanders planting roots at CU
Lewis has led his high school team to a 13-0 record this year and plans to enroll in January. His signing on Wednesday also seems to answer a popular question in college football over the past 15 months: Does Deion Sanders plan on leaving Colorado anytime soon, especially after his two sons on the team leave after this season?
It’s doubtful Lewis would have signed with Colorado if he was. Lewis committed to Southern California last year but visited other campuses before announcing his decision last month to come to Colorado, where the Buffaloes (9-3) will begin preparations for a bowl game later this month, likely the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.
“For Deion to do this was huge, because I think he had to convince JuJu and his family that he was staying in Boulder,” Gorney told USA TODAY Sports.
JuJu Lewis also getting reinforcements at Colorado
The scary part for Colorado opponents is that Lewis could end up being even better than Shedeur, at least according to the recruiting ratings. In 2021, Shedeur Sanders ranked No. 26 in the nation as a quarterback recruit, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. He originally committed to play for Florida Atlantic before deciding to play for his father at Jackson State and then Colorado, where he leads the nation in completion percentage at 74.2%.
Lewis ranks No. 6 nationally as a quarterback, according to the same ranking service. He’s getting some big bodies to protect him in Boulder, too. Colorado signed three offensive linemen Wednesday, including tackle Carde Smith, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound blocker from Mobile, Alabama. He switched his commitment from USC to join Juju at CU and ranks as the No. 18 offensive tackle, according to Rivals.
“Can’t wait to get up there in Boulder and get to work,” Smith posted in a social media video Wednesday.
Deion Sanders’ high school recruiting strategy
Deion Sanders has developed a reputation as a transfer portal power, not a high school recruiting juggernaut. His transfer class for 2024 ranked No. 1, according to Rivals. He opened the season with 39 new scholarship transfer players from other four-year colleges, compared with only 11 new high school scholarship recruits. That high school class last year ranked No. 95 nationally, largely because of its small size, according to 247Sports’ composite.
“You know we don’t take a lot of high school players and the ones that we take, we want them to play immediately,” Sanders said at a news conference last week. “We want them to produce.”
In his first season as head coach, Sanders started the 2023 season with 17 new high school scholarship players compared to 47 new scholarship transfer recruits from other four-year colleges. Of those 17 high school scholarship recruits, only nine remained a year later. It adds to the pro culture of the team, with rookies needing to be in top form to stick around with so many older free agents coming in as transfers.
“We got what we want,” Sanders said last week about his newest class of high school recruits.
He signed recruits from high schools in seven states, including his home state of Florida, where he landed edge rusher London Merritt from the IMG Academy after he previously committed to Ohio State. Merritt ranked No. 13 at that position, according to 247Sports’ composite. Sanders also signed three receiver prospects Wednesday to help fill part of the void left by Hunter, who will play in the NFL next season.
Did Deion Sanders lose any recruits?
Yes, one recruit committed to play for Colorado in April but didn’t sign with the Buffaloes Wednesday: cornerback Alex Graham of Cass Technical High School in Detroit. Graham announced Wednesday he would sign with USC instead.
His decision dropped Colorado’s national recruiting ranking a few spots, but that’s not a concern for Sanders, who can find other options in the transfer portal.
Colorado’s high school football signees for 2025
The recruits who enroll at Colorado in January will be able to practice with the team before the Buffs play in a bowl game. These are the recruits the university confirmed as signed on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period, which runs through Friday:
QB Julian Lewis, Carrollton, Georgia.
OT Carde Smith, Mobile, Alabama.
OG Chauncey Gooden, Nashville, Tennessee.
OT Jay Gardenhire, West Bloomfield, Michigan.
WR Quentin Gibson, Fort Worth, Texas
WR Adrian Wilson, Pflugerville, Texas
WR Quanell Farrakhan Jr., Houston, Texas
TE Zayne DeSouza, Loveland, Colorado.
TE Corbin Laisure, Johnson City, Tennessee.
DE London Merritt, Bradenton, Florida.
DT Alexander McPherson, Bradenton, Florida.
DL Christian Hudson, Daytona Beach, Florida.
LB Mantrez Walker, Buford, Georgia.
S TJ Branch, Miami, Florida.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com