Report: Deion Sanders, Colorado football hit with minor NCAA recruiting violations

Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders reportedly committed a minor violation of NCAA rules during the 2024 season when he mentioned elite 2025 quarterback recruit Julian “JuJu” Lewis during a livestream of his weekly coaches show, according to USA Today.

The Colorado athletic department self-reported the incident and has since removed the shows in question from the internet, as well as imposing “corrective measures” such as additional rules education for Sanders and a reduction of four in-person recruiting days during the Spring 2025 contact period, according to records obtained by USA Today.

The school also agreed to “implement new institutional controls on the football weekly coaches show,” according to Colorado’s report to the NCAA, which was obtained by USA Today.

“The content will no longer be livestreamed,” the school wrote, via USA Today. “External relations will therefore be able to review and edit content that could be construed as impermissible publicity of (recruits).”

The minor violation occurred in November, before Lewis could formally sign with the Buffaloes on the first day of the early signing period (Dec. 4), when Sanders or another member of the show specifically mentioned Lewis’ name twice on his weekly coaches show in the days following Lewis’ Nov. 21 commitment to Colorado.

NCAA rules prohibit coaches and schools from publicizing or commenting on recruits before they officially sign. The violation was among six self-reported infractions the Colorado football program processed in 2024, according to records obtained by USA Today.

Why Deion Sanders, Colorado were cited for minor recruiting violations

The first mention of Lewis’ name occurred on the same day he committed when the show’s host, Mark Johnson, referenced the day’s big news without specifically citing Lewis. That prompted Sanders to explain how he recruited Lewis, where he directly mentioned “JuJu,” Lewis’ nickname.

“Hey, get JuJu on the phone and get his pop on the phone,” Sanders said as an example for how he recruited Lewis, per USA Today. “See if his dad want to come down and sit down and chop it up with me.”

The coaches show in question was taken down from the program’s YouTube channel a few hours later. The next week’s show had another incident when a new host who is not a school employee mentioned Lewis in a question about bowl preparation. While Sanders didn’t specifically say Lewis’ name in this instance, thanks to a university employee interjecting and quickly changing the subject, it was still deemed impermissible and the show was removed from YouTube in less than an hour.

“This time the show was pulled off YouTube within less than an hour,” the school’s report said, per USA Today, though it clarified both mentions were unintentional and “not a direct effort to gain any recruiting advantage.”

Colorado self-reports five other minor violations from 2023-24 seasons

USA Today also revealed Colorado’s other self-reported violations, including a technical recruiting violation in late 2023 when a recent signee interacted with a Buffaloes player and his brother while vacationing in Florida days after the early signing period during what is deemed a recruiting dead period by the NCAA.

Another violation occurred in September 2023 when a recruit attended a go-kart event that cost $67 when NCAA rule 13.6.7.4 limits the cost to provide “entertainment” for recruits to $60. To resolve the violation, the recruit was declared ineligible for competition until the $7 difference was repaid to a charity, according to records obtained by USA Today.

“Rules education on entertainment during official visits was provided to the football recruiting staff, and the entire football staff,” the school’s report to the NCAA said, per USA Today.