Deion Sanders lands first recruit as Colorado head coach

Deion Sanders has landed his first commitment as the head coach of Colorado.

Fort Meyers (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star wide receiver and class of 2025 recruit Winston Watkins Jr. committed Sunday to the Buffaloes.

It is the second commitment of his recruitment — he previously committed to Texas A&M for 11 months before backing off his commitment last year.

Watkins told On3’s Hayes Fawcett he committed to the Buffaloes because of Sanders and is honored to be his first commitment at the school.

“It’s a blessing,” Watkins said. “I’m glad he believes in me and I can’t wait til he gets there for a game and turns the program around.”

On3 does not yet rank recruits during their sophomore seasons but does release a preseason Watch List of 100 recruits. Watkins was named to the list.

He currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $109k. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Watkins commitment to Sanders is the first of likely many over the next few weeks.

“He knows how to recruit, he relates very well to kids and many parents grew up watching Deion,” On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons said. “We know he is going to sign talent. Now a lot of eyes will be in him and his staff as coaches on the Power 5 level. This is a great move for college football and it creates new excitement at Colorado.”