LAS VEGAS – Deion Sanders knows something most don’t. He’s just not keeping it a secret anymore.
Hours after the Colorado football coach took center stage at Big 12 media days, Sanders sent a public message to high school recruits who may be considering the Buffaloes.
“To whom it may concern, if you want to come play for us, they might lower your HS (high school) rating just because,” Sanders posted in X Wednesday night. “I have a friend named LuLu from Fort Myers who they did this with years ago and still do now. Luckily, we don’t care about ratings.”
Reading between the lines, Sanders is likely referring to prized quarterback recruit Julian Lewis.
Despite being committed to USC since last summer, Lewis’ buzz to Colorado has been growing in recent weeks and Sanders “has a real chance” of getting him from the Trojans, according to On3 National Recruitment Analyst, Phillip Dukes.
The football star’s third visit to Boulder in late June was highlighted by a photo of him receiving the keys from Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Lewis’ caption read: “Could this be the ‘perfect moment’?”
But what does all this have to do with Deion Sanders’ post?
Until this week, Lewis was a consensus five-star quarterback in the 2025 class.
Luís fell to a four-star prospect on both On3 and 247Sports. ESPN and Rivals still rate him as a five-star recruit.
For comparison, On3 and 247Sports now have Lewis as the 44th and 46th player in the country, respectively (No. 7 QB). Meanwhile, ESPN ranks him as the No. 2 player in the country (No. 2 QB). Rivals considers him the best player in the country in the 2025 class.
That’s a stark difference and the timing is even stranger.
Lewis hasn’t played football since On3 and 247Sports dropped him more than 20 spots in their rankings.
In fact, everything Lewis has done (other than showing serious interest in Sanders’ program) since throwing 48 touchdowns and just two interceptions in 2023 has been impressive. He took home the 2024 Elite 11 pro day championship with a perfect score of 50 the week of his visit to Colorado.
That may be the motivation behind Sanders’ post, and he may have a point.
Shedeur and Colorado football fans certainly think so.
“You guys know what it is haha,” Shedeur briefly said of his father’s comments in response to a post that said, “Wait 247 (Sports), I just lost 30 spots to JuJu.
Colorado will have the last laugh, however, if Lewis ends up flipping his commitment from USC to the Buffaloes.
After Sanders’ cryptic post, it seems only a matter of time.
Follow Colorado Buffaloes sports reporter Scott Procter at X.
This article originally appeared in the Fort Collins Coloradoan: Deion Sanders Warns Recruits: ‘They Can Lower Your HS Rating’
