CU has a roster construction problem. You want proof?
CU ranks 108th nationally in scoring offense, 107th in scoring defense, 107th in yards per play, and 108th in yards per play allowed.
Woof.
Is there help on the way?
CU is ranked 95th nationally in high school recruiting for the 2026 class. Georgia State, UMass, Buffalo, Toledo, etc. are all ranked higher than Colorado.
Woof.
This past week, safety D’Montae Tims decommitted from CU and pledged to Indiana, while tight end Gavin Mueller flipped his commitment from CU to Miami.
Woof.
By now, we all know how Deion Sanders is going to construct a roster. Despite many fans wishes, he’s going to largely ignore high school recruiting. Instead, he’s going to sign a small high school class and rely heavily on the transfer portal to fill out the majority of the roster. He signed 27 high school players in his first 2 full recruiting cycles, 12 in 2024 and 15 in 2025. This year, CU has 10 commits — there are 3 or so players likely to commit before signing day next month — so the Buffs should finish with about 13 high school commits in its 2025-26 high school class. Business as usual for Deion Sanders.
So if CU is a “transfer school” more than a “recruit and develop” school, how are we doing on the transfer front?
This past off-season, Sanders hit the transfer portal aggressively to improve the roster. The biggest addition was Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter, but there were others that CU’s staff was excited about – including defensive lineman Jeheim Oatis (Alabama), offensive linemen Mana Taimani (Ole Miss) and Aki Ogunbiyi (Texas A&M), wide receivers Hykeem Williams (Florida State), and defensive backs Terrance Love (Auburn) and Makari Vickers (Oklahoma) — that have disappointed.
“If you take a look at a lot of the guys that they brought in, there wasn’t a ton of production,” a Big 12 general manager recently told The Athletic. “They took a bunch of Power 4 big names, big (recruiting) star guys, and they put them in with the expectation that they were going to have big jumps. And they just didn’t.”
Another Big 12 personnel staffer told the Athletic: “We say it all the time at our place: If a player can’t develop at a place like Alabama or Georgia, where they have every resource, why are they going to come here and be any better or different?”
There’s a lot of lessons that Deion Sanders can take from these two quotes.
CU’s transfer portal wins haven’t come from the usual formula: blue-chip kid who signed with a powerhouse, got buried on the depth chart, and bolted when the dream didn’t match the snaps. No, Colorado’s true impact guys have been climbers, players who up-transferred because they were dominating at their previous stops and were ready for a bigger stage.
Examples include DeKalon Taylor (Incarnate Word), Xavier Hill (Memphis), Zarian McGill (Louisiana Tech), Joseph Williams (Tulsa), Tawfiq Byard (South Florida), LaJohntay Wester (FAU), and Preston Hodge (Liberty). These are hungry players that weren’t escaping disappointment – they were chasing opportunity.
Deion Sanders needs to learn this lesson. More climbers, fewer down-transfers.
Up until now, Deion Sanders uses the transfer portal to look for potential high round NFL draft picks. Potential over production. Take a big swing on a talented player that has underperformed and see if you can turn them around.
The problem with this approach is that college football isn’t really about the first round picks – it’s about the 5th, 6th, and 7th round picks. That’s what makes a college roster competitive. You can’t have a 5-star player surrounded by underperforming players. You need to have them surrounded by high motor good (albeit maybe less talented) players. You need really, reall good role players.
If CU isn’t going to sign more high school players (which is a mistake), then it needs to make sure it’s looking for the right kind of transfers. Because when you refuse to sign typical high school classes, you have to hit on the transfers. And CU has missed with too many down-transfers, which leads to the results we’ve seen this season.
It’s up to Deion Sanders to change his approach. This year has clearly shown that the current approach isn’t working. Let’s hope he learns from his mistakes.
CU’s soccer team is heading to the program’s 3rd Sweet 16 after beating no. 22 Xavier 4-1 in East Lansing, Michigan yesterday. For those of you that were curious, yes, I watched the game live.
Goal scorers yesterday included Faith Leyba, Reagan Kotschau, Hope Leyba, and Riley MacDonald. The four goals scored were the 2nd most scored by the Buffs in an NCAA tournament match.
BY THE WAY — Do yourself a favor and check out Hope Leyba’s goal of the season. GOALAZO!!!!!!!!
Up next for CU is a game against Michigan State on Sunday at 11 am mountain time. The game will be televised on ESPN+. I’ll be watching.
The CU basketball program’s freshman class can play.
Colorado currently has 6 freshmen that are playing: Ian Inman, Isaiah Johnson, Alon Michaeli, Josiah Sanders, Jalin Holland and Tacko Ifaola. While all of them are coming off the bench, two of CU’s best players — as we reported this off-season – are forward Alon Michaeli and point guard Isaiah Johnson.
Johnson is averaging 16.5 points per game on 59% shooting. The McKinley Wright clone has the 17th highest true shooting percentage in the nation (!) and a 142 offensive rating per Kenpom, the highest on the roster.
The 2nd highest offensive rating? Alon Michaeli. Michaeli is averaging 13.7 points and 5 rebounds per game. The Israeli forward also has the 2nd highest defensive rating on the team per Kenpom. Michaeli can play, folks.
Do yourself a favor and get to the Coors Event Center to watch these “kids” play. They’re worth the price of admission. They play tonight (Friday) at 7 pm against UC Davis, which knocked off Nevada earlier this week.
A couple of the best things I read this past week:
CU spent more on NIL than Kentucky in first 3 months of the year. https://www.sportico.com/leagues/college-sports/2025/college-athlete-pay-public-records-hide-1234875974/
Looking for a tech job? Good luck. https://macleans.ca/society/looking-for-coding-work-good-luck/
I called everyone in Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/10/i-called-everyone-in-jeffrey-epsteins-little-black-book/. Great writing and reporting here.
We’ve received a lot of positive feedback on this piece about the D2 football experience. In fact, I’ve received calls from several D2 Presidents and Vice Presidents wanting to publish the piece. Colorado Mesa sent it out to its student body and donors this past week. I’m glad it’s resonating with folks.
This is a fantastic blog. Glad I found it. There’s nothing in the CU sports media world that is free anymore, let alone awesome and free. I can’t imagine any of the pay sites offer this level of quality writing. Thanks!