BOULDER — Deion Sanders had another message for the NCAA on Tuesday: Tell other football programs to stop tampering with CU Buffs players via the transfer portal.
“We’ve got some tremendous guys identified in the portal that we felt like were going to be in the portal,” Coach Prime said during a news conference late Thursday morning at CU’s Champions Center. “We don’t jump the gun on that stuff because the last thing I want to hear is my name associated with tampering anything like they do our kids.
“We’ve got contracts. I mean, we’ve got some schools so stupid — they give kids contracts, but (they’re) still here. I don’t understand that.
“Like, NCAA, y’all gotta do something, man. Don’t just sit there on your hands and open them up so everybody can grease your darn palms and make a ton of money off everybody and don’t have nothing to say about nothing. I don’t understand that part.”
The Buffs, who are 13-12 in Sanders’ two seasons at the helm, have been one of the most active teams in FBS in terms of transfer portal traffic since Coach Prime’s arrival in December 2022. More than half the roster was new during Sanders’ first season, and the turnover rate was similar between Year 1 and Year 2.
The portal opened on Wednesday and will close on April 25, a week from Friday. According to 247Sports.com’s tracker, CU since April 1 has seen one transfer come in (ex-Memphis wideout Xavier Hill) and five leave — including four-star freshman wideout Adrian Wilson, one of the top talents from Sanders’ 2024 recruiting class.
Wilson told On3.com this week that he was transferring to North Carolina, now coached by longtime NFL icon Bill Belichick.
“But (the) portal is going to be good to us,” Sanders continued. “I think we have several players coming this weekend, which I’m excited to see, along with what we already have in-house.”
The Buffs’ annual spring game is slated for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Folsom Field. CU will retire the jerseys of recent stars — and likely 2025 NFL Draft first-round picks — Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders before the event kicks off.