Deion Sanders must have a lot on his mind right now after his first season at the helm of Colorado.
Though they had a season that fell short of their Bowl goals, Colorado was much more competitive than it had been pre-Prime and even improved by three wins over a 1-11 season in 2022. The plan is to move on and work on getting better.
However, the way Prime’s guys started the season 3-0 and then 4-2, offered a false optimism to the fans across the country. No one realistically could have expected this Colorado team to be any better than it was, but the early season wins and the over-the-top media hype set Colorado up for what it is experiencing now.
Colorado picked the wrong time to go into a tailspin, with recruits looking to sign with colleges by December’s early signing period.
A few weeks ago, Prime lost the commitment of a coveted four-star QB.
Not soon after the Colorado Buffalos concluded their season, ending with a final record of 4-8, and missing a bowl berth, one of the top QBs in his class, Antwann Hill, decommitted from Colorado.
Hill Jr., the No. 46 recruit in the class of 2025 by ESPN, committed to Coach Prime in October. Last month he even wore a T-shirt with a picture of current CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and Hill even stated that he had planned to reclassify to the 2024 class in order to join the team earlier.
The news of Hill Jr.’s decommitment comes two weeks after five-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. also rescinded his verbal commitment to Sanders’ program.
Colorado Meltdown Scaring Off Recruits?
This is following the absolute meltdown that Colorado had in the middle of their season that they unfortunately never recovered from. They started with a hot 3-0 streak before they began losing games.
Due to the early success of Deion’s Buffaloes, including future first-round NFL picks Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, Colorado quickly became an attractive school for players in the transfer portal and coming out of high school.
But after the recent turn of events, it seems that they are losing the initial flair that attracted players.
Hill, on the other hand, claims that he is just looking to explore his options to make sure he is making the right decision, although he states that Colorado is still at the top of his list.
“Colorado is still a top priority for me,” Hill told ESPN. “I really just want to take the process slower and make sure I’m making the right decision for me and my family at the end of the day. I’m going to get back out there on the market and make the right decision.”
Antwann Hill is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound quarterback who is from Warner Robins, Georgia, and attends Houston County High School. With his size as just a junior, he will definitely garner attention from plenty of schools.
Right now, he is interested in other schools and even plans to visit Louisville soon as well. He is the No. 3 ranked QB in the class of 2025 and would been a great backup to Shedeur Sanders if he’d arrived a year early and could’ve taken over the offense after Shedeur presumably declared for the NFL.
But now with his opportunities expanding, as well as Colorado not living up to the hype that they attracted early in the season, Hill will evaluate his other options.
Regardless of whether Hill was truly trying to make the best decision possible, or if his decision had everything to do with Colorado’s struggles, this is potentially a huge loss for Coach Prime as he tries to improve his roster and makes the move back to the Big 12.
How’s The Recruiting Going Otherwise
His 2024 class is coming along slowly after losing two talented recruits in the past month. He did manage to nab another two-way sensation in Kamron Mikell
Mikell, ranked No. 143 overall in the 2024 ESPN 300, chose the Buffs over offers from Georgia, Texas A&M and other huge programs.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound athlete out of Statesboro, Georgia, will serve in a versatile role similar to Travis Hunter’s.
Mikell joins Colorado’s class with his cousin and high school teammate, Amontrae Bradford, giving Sanders three ESPN 300 commitments. Already secured is Aaron Butler, the No. 70 prospect overall, and defensive end Brandon Davis-Swain, the No. 230 prospect overall.
Deion has 10 players committed and of course, he will be very active in the transfer portal.
What he won’t do, says Deion, is compete with other Power 5s in bidding on players.
“We’re not an ATM. That’s not going to happen here,” Sanders said during a press conference last Tuesday. “If you come to Colorado to play football for me and the Colorado Buffaloes, it’s because you really want to play football and receive a wonderful education and all the business stuff will be handled on the back end if that’s the case.
