Julian "Juju" Lewis's future with Deion Sanders' Colorado football program was labeled by Essentially Sports' Khosalu Puro as "put in a dilemma" after Jaden O'Neal visited Boulder during the first week of June.
"With Shedeur Sanders leaving for the NFL next year, the hunt for his replacement has begun and Julian Lewis could be the elite haul," Puro prefaced before saying, "Lewis has shown interest in Colorado and recently disclosed that it’s because of Coach Prime. But his future in Colorado is put in a dilemma as Deion Sanders had another prospect over at Colorado."
That phrasing is perhaps misleading. Lewis's commitment to Colorado probably wouldn't be affected by a 2026 recruit either way, since Shedeur Sanders' starting spot would be his from the jump and his to lose. But O'Neal's visit could indicate that Coach Prime feels Lewis slipping away to a program like Auburn or Georgia. USC, his current school, is obviously still in play as well.
Pursuit of Julian Lewis shuts down Deion Sanders leaving Colorado football rumors, but what does Jaden O'Neal pursuit mean?
As FOX Sports' RJ Young wrote, CU's pursuit of Lewis puts the Deion leaving Colorado rumors to bed a bit; particularly if the Buffs were to bring on the Carrollton (Georgia) star to take over the offense in 2025.
"We have folks that believe that Coach Prime has no reason to stay at Colorado once Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders are gone to the NFL. I think there's some credence to that because Prime got into coaching to coach his boys," Young said. "He watched them play in Little League. He didn't like the way the coach was coaching them thought he was going to get them hurt. He found himself getting up out of his chair more often than not to go to correct something or to help, and before you know it, he's coaching the teams. And he did that in high school at Trinity, and he did that at Jackson State, and now he's done it at Colorado. Everywhere that they have gone, he has gone, so if you think that he would follow them to the NFL, you got a point given what we've seen in the past.
Does an O'Neal pursuit mean the same thing? Well yes and no.
O'Neal being a 2026 recruit means there's plenty of time for him to flip, but it also means that Coach Prime can contemplate whether or not he wants to stick around the college coaching ranks without his kids in 2025.
Sanders claims he's sticking around for five to 10 years, but his first campaign post-Shedeur and Shilo will truly decide if he means what he says.