Colorado recruiting can ‘lean into Big 12 history and Texas connections’
Deion Sanders and the Colorado football program can “lean into their Big 12 history and Texas connections” to leverage top recruits in Big 12 territory following their recent conference jump according to Ralphie Report’s Sam Metivier.
“In a shocking move last week, the Colorado Buffaloes will be leaving the Pac-12 and re-joining the Big 12 for the 2024-25 season,” Metivier prefaced before saying, “Say what you will about cultural fit and academic prestige, but this is big win for the non-Olympic sports, particularly the football program as Deion Sanders can lean into their Big 12 history and Texas connections to build up a team capable of contending in their new conference home.”
With the state of Texas typically producing the most blue-chip recruits due to being able to fit 7.8 billion people into the state, it’s vital that Coach Prime and Co. can do what it can to hook those recruits north to Boulder; a city in a state with different climates and cultures than just about anywhere in the Lone Star State. Now playing several Texas teams a year, including Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, and Houston, CU has the ability to sell multiple matchups a year in some of the biggest cities in the state.
Colorado basketball does not have the Big 12 history Colorado football does
Colorado football can flex a 1990 national championship during its time in the Big 12, then called the Big 8, but Buffaloes basketball doesn’t have a title in its history, or a Final Four appearance since 1955, or an Elite Eight appearance since 1963, or even a Sweet 16 appearance since 1969. In regards to Big 12 history or booster support for the program, CU basketball doesn’t have what football does, Metivier notes.
“Basketball does not have that history, unfortunately,” Metivier prefaced before saying, “Not a good history, anyway. The Buffs were a bottom dweller in the old Big 12 as luminaries Joe Harrington, Ricardo Patton and Jeff Bzdelik all struggled to find sustained success on the hardwood. Colorado is a very difficult job since the program receives little institutional funding and the state itself is not exactly rich in basketball talent.”
The sunshine-pumping thing to say would be to wait and see what Cody Williams could help Colorado hoops accomplish in 2023-24. In reality, the best CU could hope for in 2024 and beyond in the Big 12 is that some Texas-based recruits will have a chip on their shoulder and want to help build something in Boulder while beating the peers that went elsewhere instate and in the conference. Or, that Williams is the start of a slew of 5-stars that want to be Buffs.
Never say never, I suppose.