It’s the kind of recruiting weekend that could define the Deion Sanders era of Colorado football.
Blue-chip recruits, four-star prospects and Class of 2025 commits to the Buffaloes will be in Boulder on June 21 for official visits, just before the NCAA football dead period begins (June 24-July 24).
Julian Lewis, a USC commit, is one of those blue-chip recruits and the most notable visitor. The No. 1-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2025 by both ESPN and Rivals completed nearly 66% of his passes for a total of 7,212 yards and 96 touchdowns over the last two seasons at Carrollton High School, including 48 touchdowns to just two interceptions in 2023.
Lewis has been committed to the Trojans since August 2023 but has taken visits to Auburn and Indiana this month ahead of his third trip to Boulder. It’s also Lewis’ final official visit scheduled for this summer.
On3’s national recruiting analyst Phillip Dukes told the Coloradoan in May that “Colorado has a real shot of landing Julian Lewis.” This weekend’s visit could seal the deal for one of sport’s brightest young stars.
“When you look at those schools (Auburn, Indiana, USC), none of them jump out at you as quarterback U outside of USC and a lot of people have just been saying ‘well, we just don’t actually see JuJu going to Southern Cal,'” Dukes told the Coloradoan in May. “When you look at Auburn, they have an NIL bag, close to home and he can play in the SEC, but does Auburn fit the celebrity of Julian Lewis?
“There are only two schools that fit that type of celebrity: Southern Cal because they kind of had that with Caleb Williams and Colorado because they have it with Shedeur. I think Colorado has a better than a good shot. I couldn’t put odds on it but I think it’s very real.”
More:The Julian Lewis-to-Colorado hype is ‘very real’: Buffs have ‘a real shot’ at 5-star QB
Deion Sanders and the Colorado football recruiting staff will have some help in their pursuit of Lewis this weekend.
A pair of 2025 commits to the Buffs will also be in Boulder with Lewis for official visits: linebacker Mantrez Walker from Buford, Georgia, and tight end Corbin Laisure from Bluff City, Tennessee.
Walker is a three-star prospect who would be a five-star if he was taller, according to Dukes. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound LB chose the Buffs over Miami, Ole Miss, Penn State, Stanford and others.
More importantly, the Colorado commit is good friends with Lewis and could play a key role in flipping the five-star QB from USC.
“I’ve been knowing JuJu (Lewis) since we were young,” Walker told the Coloradoan last month. “We played for the same little league team. Me and him have been tight for a minute.”
More:Colorado football commit Mantrez Walker could play key role in recruiting QB Julian Lewis
Laisure could end up being a favorite passing target of Lewis after the 6-foot-5, 225-pound TE caught 64 passes for 774 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior at Sullivan East High School. He committed to Colorado on April 27 over offers from Arizona State, Louisville, Ole Miss and others.
Lewis isn’t the only recruit Sanders and his staff hope to secure a commitment from this weekend.
At least three other highly touted Class of 2025 prospects will be in Boulder for official visits, and more could be joining them.
“It’s going to be an experience like no other because I think that whatever ‘Coach Prime’ does, he does it in a way that he puts his signature on it,” Dukes said of Colorado’s June 21 recruiting weekend. “There are going to be some surprises there that weekend that people might not be counting on. You might run into somebody that you see on Instagram. You may run into a Nike executive who may be showing the next Deion Sanders shoe that comes out next year.
“You just don’t know what you’re going to get and it’s going to be something you can’t get at the average program. That weekend is going to be huge, guys are looking forward to it and they’re not done.”
Chauncey Gooden, offensive line
Notable: The 6-foot-4, 320-pound OL is a four-star recruit out of Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Gooden’s list of top 10 schools includes Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee. He posted a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Sanders on March 5 with the caption “#SkoBuffs.”
Quanell X Farrakhan Jr., wide receiver
Notable: The 6-foot, 175-pound WR is one of the Class of 2025’s top pass catchers. Farrakhan Jr. is a consensus four-star recruit who caught 46 passes for 806 yards and 12 touchdowns last fall at The Woodlands (Texas) High School. He plans to commit on July 13 with Alabama, Nebraska, Texas A&M and others in the running.
Evan Haynes, wide receiver
Notable: The 6-foot-3, 185-pound WR is a three-star prospect from Fellowship Christian School in Roswell, Georgia. Haynes averaged 20.3 yards per catch last season, hauling in 33 passes for 671 yards and six touchdowns. He’s picked up offers from Georgia Tech, Kansas, Miami, North Carolina and others.
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