Colorado lands 5-star QB Julian Lewis: What it means for Deion Sanders

Five-star quarterback Julian “Juju” Lewis committed to Colorado on Thursday.

Lewis, the overall no. 35 in the class of 2025 in the 247Sports Composite, had been committed to USC for more than a year, but backed out of that pledge on Nov. 17.

He visited Colorado last month for the Buffaloes’ win over Cincinnati and made a surprise visit to Georgia last weekend to see the Bulldogs at top Tennessee. He announced his decision on the “Pat McAfee Show.”

Lewis plays at Carrollton High School, about 80 miles west of Atlanta. His team is 11-0 and will play Valdosta in a state playoff game Friday night. For the season, Lewis is 200-for-257 passing for 2,842 yards with 40 touchdowns and four interceptions. He is completing 77.8 percent of his passes, a career high and 10 percentage points higher than last season.

What does this mean for Colorado?

Colorado doesn’t have an experienced backup quarterback or scheme at the position beyond Shedeur Sanders, who will enter the NFL Draft after this season.

Now, Colorado has a plan beyond the next few months, and Lewis would likely be a Day 1 starter in Boulder. It’s also evidence that Deion Sanders will stay in Colorado after his sons (Shedeur and Shilo) and Travis Hunter leave. It’s the biggest recruiting win for Sanders since flipping Hunter from Florida State to Jackson State during the December 2021 early signing period.

It’s hard to believe that both teams’ fortunes on the field had no impact. USC (5-5) has lost four of its last five games, and the pitch for Lincoln Riley’s program has never been worse. Trojans need to rally to reach a bowl game.

Colorado, meanwhile, has played its way into Big 12 title contention and the College Football Playoff picture with six wins in seven games. Sanders’ stock hasn’t been higher since the Buffaloes’ 3-0 start in 2023 against a trio of teams that ended up missing bowl games. It’s not hard to sell the idea that Lewis could be key in the program build for Sanders, while Riley’s future in a USC program in transition looks far less rosy. — Ubben

What happened to USC?

While Lewis had been committed to USC for nearly a year and a half, he hadn’t avoided interest from other programs. In the spring, he visited some SEC schools as well as Indiana and Colorado. The SEC schools found other quarterbacks, but the Hoosiers and Buffaloes remained persistent. Although Lewis visited USC, the fact that he never publicly confirmed his commitment to the Trojans and visited other programs certainly raised questions. It basically made the separation inevitable.

And USC obviously wasn’t caught off guard. The staff stayed in touch with Husan Longstreet and made a strong — and ultimately successful — push to flip the five-star prospect from his Texas A&M commitment. — Morality

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(Photo: John David Mercer / Imagn Images)