From Swagger to Silence: Where did all the Colorado recruiting buzz go?

Colorado Black & Gold Spring Game
Colorado Black & Gold Spring Game | Dustin Bradford/GettyImages

Before Deion Sanders even arrived at Colorado, he put the Country on notice for his ability as a recruiter. Given Deion Sanders' personality and track record as a player, everyone envisioned it would be impossible to say no when he sat down in a living room to recruit a player. The prime example came when Deion Sanders flipped the Nation's top-ranked recruit, Travis Hunter, from Florida State on National Signing Day, bringing the 5-star recruit to Jackson State.

Once Deion Sanders arrived in Boulder, the expectation was that his ability as a recruiter would only go up a level as he was now at a Power-5 school, giving recruits a chance to play for him against the other big-time programs. During his first few cycles, Sanders showed that ability finishing 35th, 65th, and 35th again in the National Rankings.

The 5-stars recruits that Sanders was able to bring to Boulder were the part that was most promising for the Buffaloes' fanbase. In his first recruiting cycle, he signed the Nation's top cornerback, Cormani McClain, luring him out of the State of Florida. In the following cycle, it was the Nation's top offensive tackle, Jordan Seaton, giving the team a monster in the trenches.

As things currently stand, there are a ton of reasons to be concerned that Deion Sanders isn't bought in enough on the recruiting trail. The Buffaloes currently rank 98th on the recruiting trail behind programs like Texas State, Nevada, Georgia State, Temple, and Central Michigan. Colorado to this point has just 4 High School commits and one commit from a JUCO player.

While Deion Sanders has proven time and time again that he prefers to use the transfer portal, he's simply leaving a ton of opportunity on the table by not embracing High School recruiting. Sanders has proven he can win out in the massive 5-star recruiting battles but he hasn't pushed as hard as he can. To this point, Deion Sanders has yet to take an In-Home visit with a recruit.

After losing Travis Hunter and his two sons to the NFL Draft, Deion Sanders is in the most crucial stretch of his tenure as Colorado's Head Coach. If Coach Prime is going to build this program into a true contender in the Big 12, he'll need to find a way to start recruiting at the High School level better otherwise this will become a revolving door of transfers.

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