In one of the biggest recruitments of the year, 5-star quarterback Julian Lewis committed to Colorado football. However, it didn't come without some ramifications to the program, and head coach Deion Sanders. According to a tweet from On3 Sports, the program has been hit with a recruiting violation on Lewis.
They explained that it stems from Sanders talking about actively recruiting Lewis during a live stream of his weekly coaches show, according to USA Today. While the incident wasn't intentional, it still violated the NCAA rules. As a result, Colorado football made a clear message of what they'll do on their coaches' show going forward.
“The content will no longer be live streamed,” the school wrote, via USA Today. “External relations will therefore be able to review and edit content that could be construed as impermissible publicity of (recruits).”
The violation occurred in November, only about two weeks before high school recruits could officially sign. Sanders name-dropped Lewis twice on the show. One of the times, he used Lewis's nickname, “JuJu” on the show as a way to show how he would recruit him.
However, NCAA rules prohibit coaches and schools from publicizing or commenting on recruits before they officially sign. The violation was among six self-reported infractions the Colorado football program processed in 2024.
Colorado football's, Deion Sanders recruiting violation of Julian Lewis was accidental
Article Continues BelowAlthough the move was a mistake, it could have some long-term ramifications. After all, Lewis is a 5-star recruit and had plenty of schools looking at him. Previously, he committed to USC football to play under head coach Lincoln Riley. The latter helped Caleb Williams transform into the 2024 No. 1 pick.
Still, he remained committed to Boulder. Because of that, Lewis's teammate Caleb Odom visited Colorado football after his Alabam exit. There's plenty of influence in Folsom Field already with Lewis and Sanders. Still, some of the NCAA rules and regulations are hard for teams to follow, but they're still the rules.
Luckily, this is a minor recruiting violation and one that seemed to be a pure accident. It wasn't deliberate, even though the show host tried to quickly change the subject. With that, it might've been seen as inexcusable and a way for the Colorado football program to get out of any murky waters.
As of writing this, there's no true ramifications for the university. They reiterated that Sanders' comments were “not a direct effort to gain any recruiting advantage.” While that may be true, it's interesting to see what the NCAA will do with Colorado and their newest 5-star recruit.