Late last week, college football media erupted through the news that Colorado’s Deion Sanders and Michigan’s Sherrone Moore flipped two of the top players in the Class of 2025.
Sanders got five-star recruit Julian Lewis from Carrollton, Georgia to decommit from USC, where he had been committed since 2023, and shift to Colorado to play for the Buffaloes.
Deion is in an interesting position, which is why Lewis’ commitment is so impactful.
His star quarterback is his son Shedeur, and he’s off to the pros as a projected top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That means that Deion needed a star to replace his star, which is why getting Lewis to switch from offensive genius Lincoln Riley at USC to Sanders’ growing program in Boulder was such a big deal.
There have also been rumblings of Sanders making the leap to the NFL, a rumor that Deion has denied.
“I’m happy where I am,” said Sanders. “I got a kickstand down. That means I’m rested, I’m good. I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here.”
Moore, the first Black head coach in Michigan football history, had similar luck with five-star recruit Bryce Underwood, getting him to stay in the state to play for the Wolverines after a frenzied NIL bidding effort that went back and forth until Underwood agreed to flip his commitment from LSU to Michigan.
Underwood’s story reflects the reality of today’s recruiting process, where NIL speaks volumes, many times louder than the tradition and strength of a program. The star QB had committed to LSU but Michigan came calling and offered a reported $10.5 million NIL deal. He reportedly turned it down, then that number allegedly shot up to $12 million, which landed the prize QB in Ann Arbor according to reports.
