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Deion Sanders is succeeding in rebuilding Colorado after Shedeur's departure

Deion Sanders must start the 2025-2026 NCAA season from scratch. The departure of his stars, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, plus a mass exodus of players through the transfer portal will force Coach Prime to bring his A-game to surround his new protégé, Julian Lewis, with a contending team. Criticism from former cornerback Cormani McClain-who […]

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Deion Sanders is succeeding in rebuilding Colorado after Shedeur's departure

Deion Sanders must start the 2025-2026 NCAA season from scratch. The departure of his stars, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, plus a mass exodus of players through the transfer portal will force Coach Prime to bring his A-game to surround his new protégé, Julian Lewis, with a contending team.

Criticism from former cornerback Cormani McClain-who said Colorado played for “clicks” and therefore preferred to transfer to a “real” program-really hurted Sanders and Colorado’s reputation. The 2024-2025 offseason saw 26 players enter the transfer portal, leaving Coach Prime with a monumental task ahead.

However, true to form, Sanders turned the odds around and began rebuilding his team by snatching Lewis from USC to Boulder. One step at the time, he is surrounding the young quarterback with a team that can make a deep playoff run.

Coach Prime hits the recruiting trail

Sanders has been widely criticized for relying more on the transfer portal than the recruiting trail to build his team. Using the portal, the Buffs head coach added defensive back Noah King, safety John Slaughter, offensive tackle Larry Johnson, and running back DeKalon Taylor in less than 24 hours.

Nevertheless, Sanders has proven he can recruit and has already interviewed with the second-best receiver in the country, Cederian Morgan. Also pursued by Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, and Florida, Morgan was greatly impressed by Sanders. “I’m excited to meet Coach Prime and the staff,” the young receiver stated.

The former NFL icon also has his eye on Vance Spafford, another five-star recruit who has already committed to Georgia. Sanders hopes to pull another Lewis and convince Spafford to join Colorado.

Sanders is keeping an eye on the defense too, and has interviews scheduled with four-star cornerback Dorian Barney aiming to beat out Georgia Tech, Michigan, North Carolina, Penn State, and Texas A&M to recruit the defensive star.

JuJu is making himself at home in Colorado

While Coach Prime continues to seek fresh blood for the Buffaloes, his top recruit of the 2025 class, Julian Lewis, is working to strengthen his ties with the other recruits. JuJu hosted his fellow rookies at his home last weekend, demonstrating his leadership skills.

The competition between Lewis and newcomer Kaidon Salter for Colorado’s starting job will be fierce; however, this initiative by Lewis surely earned him points with Coach Prime, who expects his quarterbacks to be more than just leaders on the field.

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We’d Love It If You Filled Out This DBR Podcast Survey And You Might Enjoy It Too

The DBR wants your help! We are partnering with our good friends on the Duke Basketball Roundup podcast for a fun summer activity. It is a Duke fan survey to gauge everything from how you became a Duke fan, to your favorite Duke player, to your feelings about NIL and the transfer portal, and much, […]

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The DBR wants your help! We are partnering with our good friends on the Duke Basketball Roundup podcast for a fun summer activity. It is a Duke fan survey to gauge everything from how you became a Duke fan, to your favorite Duke player, to your feelings about NIL and the transfer portal, and much, much more.

It contains about 20 questions but shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to fill out. A word of advice — don’t ponder too much, go with your gut on each of these Qs.

The Duke Basketball Roundup will be revealing the answers on their podcast starting in a couple weeks and we will publish the results here too. This is a great way to talk about what we love about Duke and what maybe worries us too… And without you it won’t be complete.

So click here and tell us all about your relationship with Duke hoops!



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IU basketball leans on vast NIL resources in rebuild amidst changed market

To build long-term stability, IU coach Darian DeVries wants to ‘simplify’ the process Indiana basketball coach Darian DeFries describes how he see building long-term stability. BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries basically had to start from scratch when putting together his roster for the 2025-26 season. The lone holdover from Mike Woodson’s final year as […]

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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries basically had to start from scratch when putting together his roster for the 2025-26 season.

The lone holdover from Mike Woodson’s final year as coach was a 2025 signee (Trent Sisley) who hadn’t even arrived on campus yet.

DeVries had plenty of experience with the process, having navigated similar rebuilds at Drake and West Virginia. Still, there was a noticeable difference this time around thanks to the House v. NCAA case that was finalized on Friday night.

The settlement in the case will usher in a new era of revenue sharing, along with an NIL clearinghouse that will vet deals. There was a rush to sign players to front-loaded NIL deals that weren’t subject to review before a final approval hearing back in April and that created a much different market than the one DeVries face during those previous rebuilds.

“I think the biggest thing, as everybody found out quickly, was the NIL piece jumped dramatically in terms of what rosters we’re going to take to kind of put together,” DeVries said at a recent booster event. “And thankfully, we’re at a place that was very supportive, and then have some great donors in place and people in place to help facilitate that.”

Those resources helped DeVries lock down 10 transfers, including three players (Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson and Reed Bailey) ranked in the top 100, per 247 Sports.

“We were able to adjust on the fly as we were putting together a roster,” DeVries said. “And then anytime you’re in the portal, those things can get a little tricky, as you’re trying to put that many guys on a roster at one time.”

It’s nothing new for Indiana — Woodson had a lucrative warchest after the 2023-24 season that helped him land some of the highest-rated players in the country. The school is also expected to be near the top of the conference in how much money from its anticipated $20.5 revenue-sharing budget it dedicates to men’s hoops.

“Just like last year, we’ll be highly competitive,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said back in March. “Not just in our league, but nationally.”

That commitment came at a crucial time with IU facing stiff competition from teams across the country for top talent. Five other teams in the Big Ten (Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, USC, and Washington) signed eight or more transfers.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.





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Pete Thamel reveals which College Football Playoff format is ‘not going to happen’ after spring meetings

ESPN’s Pete Thamel got out in front of the College Football Playoff model that will not happen moving forward. Anything that has multiple autobids for certain conferences makes things a little more complicated for the average fan. That’s what Thamel reported and could infer about where the College Football Playoff expansion is going. While there […]

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ESPN’s Pete Thamel got out in front of the College Football Playoff model that will not happen moving forward. Anything that has multiple autobids for certain conferences makes things a little more complicated for the average fan.

That’s what Thamel reported and could infer about where the College Football Playoff expansion is going. While there are rumblings of 14 or 16 teams, it’s likely going to be the latter.

Now how do you determine qualifiers? Well, keep it simple, stupid!

“The 4, 4, 2, 2-thing is not going to happen,” Thamel said on The College GameDay Podcast. “And certainly there’s some ways to go and things to figure out, especially the strength of schedule stuff … The point of the playoff expanding … College football is an unbelievable, regional sport that became national right around the BCS … For all its flaws, it did nationalize sport. So one of the challenges I’ve seen the sport have, trying to capture the I-95 sports fan, right? Boston, New York, Philly, you want to bring them in the same way you bring them in on the first Thursday of the NCAA tournament …

“You want to capture that casual fan, because you have the guy in Birmingham, you can’t get any more people to watch in Birmingham. And the idea of the 4, 4, 2, 2, 1, 3, if you’re sitting at the bar in Southie, trying to talk about Notre Dame’s playoff chances, it’s just like your head would explode, right?” 

Good luck trying to figure that out if you’re a casual football fan. The College Football Playoff, as Thamel describes it, is trying to appeal to those from non-traditional college football areas. If you can make it look like the NFL, you might have a chance.

“It’s not Good Will Hunting calculus, but it’s just not intuitive to a sports fan,” Thamel said. “So basically, five plus 11 is like, we’re gonna take the conference champions and the rest of the best teams, which to me, is just a lot smoother if you’re trying to explain this …

“We get so in the weeds sometimes, and we talk about these terms and we socialize them … But I just think, as this transitions to five and 11, which it appears on the trajectory to do so and probably for ‘26 but not certain, I just think for the sport in general, a clearer idea of where it’s going makes sense.”



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Former Top NBA Pick Speaks Out on NIL’s Impact on Culture

Former Top NBA Pick Speaks Out on NIL’s Impact on Culture originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Anthony Davis built his name in college hoops the old-fashioned way, one dominant year at Kentucky, a national title in 2012, and an unshakable bond with Big Blue Nation. But in the age of NIL and the transfer portal, […]

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Former Top NBA Pick Speaks Out on NIL’s Impact on Culture originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Anthony Davis built his name in college hoops the old-fashioned way, one dominant year at Kentucky, a national title in 2012, and an unshakable bond with Big Blue Nation. But in the age of NIL and the transfer portal, the college basketball blueprint has changed. And Davis isn’t afraid to say it’s not all for the better.

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In a candid conversation with Sports Illustrated’s Patrick Andres, the NBA All-Star pulled back the curtain on how he views the current landscape. “It’s tough because obviously, they didn’t have that when I was in college,” Davis said. “It kinda takes away from the game a little bit because of, and I’m not hating, it takes away from the integrity in the sense of players are only going to certain schools because of the money.”

Those words hit home for many longtime fans and alumni who feel the spirit of college athletics is drifting. Davis’ perspective isn’t rooted in bitterness, as he acknowledges the upside. Players are earning what he once couldn’t, with top talents like Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa reportedly commanding deals in the seven-figure range. It’s life-changing compensation for athletes who drive millions in revenue.

But Davis argues that with opportunity comes compromise. “Because one guy can leave the next year, transfer, it gets tough when you start talking about culture. That kind of goes out the window, in my opinion,” he added.

He’s not alone. Coaches across the NCAA have echoed similar concerns. In the 2024-25 offseason alone, over 1,900 men’s basketball players entered the transfer portal. Programs are turning into revolving doors. Culture, once cultivated over four years, now has to be microwaved in a single season.

Former Kentucky Wildcat great Anthony Davis.© Scott Utterback/The Courier-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Kentucky Wildcat great Anthony Davis.© Scott Utterback/The Courier-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Still, NIL isn’t going anywhere. With collectives growing and corporate sponsors investing more than ever, the system is maturing, and fast. Kentucky, Davis’ alma mater, is among the schools adapting aggressively. Their NIL infrastructure, backed by the Big Blue Nation and donor-led collectives, is among the most robust in college basketball.

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For Davis, it’s not about resisting change. It’s about accountability in shaping it. “I just hope the game doesn’t lose what made it special,” he said.

As fans, players, and schools navigate this new era, Davis’ message is clear: celebrate progress, but don’t forget the pride, loyalty and culture that once defined the college game.

Related: Kentucky Basketball Beats Cap Proposal With NIL Power Play

Related: Former Kentucky Great Has Words About NIL: “I’m Glad I Didn’t Play in That Era”

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.



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Paul Finebaum makes prediction on House Settlement, how it will impact future of college sports

Paul Finebaum joined ESPN’s SportsCenter to dish on the latest regarding the NCAA House Settlement after an agreement was reached this week. He believes college athletics as we know it will go the way of the dinosaur, and that might not be the best thing to move each sport into the future. “I couldn’t help but think […]

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Paul Finebaum joined ESPN’s SportsCenter to dish on the latest regarding the NCAA House Settlement after an agreement was reached this week. He believes college athletics as we know it will go the way of the dinosaur, and that might not be the best thing to move each sport into the future.

“I couldn’t help but think back about 10 years ago, when Mark Emmert, then the President of the NCAA, essentially said college athletes will be paid over my dead body. He’s still alive, but the NCAA is dead,” Finebaum proclaimed. “It may still be in existence. We’re still having tournaments, such as the Women’s World Series and the Men’s Baseball Tournament, but the NCAA, as we know it, is gone. They literally have no jurisdiction whatsoever, other than to be tournament directors.

“This was supposed to level the playing field. Everybody pays the same into the kitty and then divides it up, but it will do anything. The big will get bigger, and the small schools will simply slip away. Other than maybe in in basketball-only conferences that can use all that money for basketball, as opposed to like, Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State, where they have to split up $20.5 million.”

While sports like football would likely be able to survive a nuclear blast, Finebaum thinks some rising competitions, like softball and women’s sports as a whole, are facing an uphill battle. The ESPN analyst was blunt in his assessment, worrying about what comes next.

“It will look a little bit like the NCAA basketball tournament this year, where the mid-majors, where we had all those great upsets, the Butlers of the past and so many incredible stories, the Valpos — they’re going to be gone. It’s going to be the big schools on top, the rest of college athletics is going to suffer,” Finebaum said, regarding what college athletics will look like over the next decade.

“… The real casualty of all this, I believe, is going to be the one part of college athletics that has grown so much. We watched the Women’s World Series last night, a million dollar pitcher, by the way, for Texas Tech. Women’s sports, I think, are going to suffer from this. If you’re one of these Ohio States or Alabamas, and you’re dividing up $20.5 million, you know where most of it’s going, it’s going to football. That’s really a major casualty.

“… College Athletics did this to themselves. They’re not really suffering for it, because it’s a billion dollar industry, but it’s going to be very uneven in the future. I think, at some point, fans are going to start tuning out. There’s such an existential threat to what we grew up loving, and we still do. It’s not going to be the same anymore.”

All told, we’ll have to wait and see if Paul Finebaum doom-and-gloom prediction comes true. Regardless, college athletics as a whole is changing right before our eyes, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what the future holds.



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IU basketball leans on vast NIL resources in rebuild amidst changed market

To build long-term stability, IU coach Darian DeVries wants to ‘simplify’ the process Indiana basketball coach Darian DeFries describes how he see building long-term stability. BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries basically had to start from scratch when putting together his roster for the 2025-26 season. The lone holdover from Mike Woodson’s final year as […]

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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries basically had to start from scratch when putting together his roster for the 2025-26 season.

The lone holdover from Mike Woodson’s final year as coach was a 2025 signee (Trent Sisley) who hadn’t even arrived on campus yet.

DeVries had plenty of experience with the process, having navigated similar rebuilds at Drake and West Virginia. Still, there was a noticeable difference this time around thanks to the House v. NCAA case that was finalized on Friday night.

The settlement in the case will usher in a new era of revenue sharing, along with an NIL clearinghouse that will vet deals. There was a rush to sign players to front-loaded NIL deals that weren’t subject to review before a final approval hearing back in April and that created a much different market than the one DeVries face during those previous rebuilds.

“I think the biggest thing, as everybody found out quickly, was the NIL piece jumped dramatically in terms of what rosters we’re going to take to kind of put together,” DeVries said at a recent booster event. “And thankfully, we’re at a place that was very supportive, and then have some great donors in place and people in place to help facilitate that.”

Those resources helped DeVries lock down 10 transfers, including three players (Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson and Reed Bailey) ranked in the top 100, per 247 Sports.

“We were able to adjust on the fly as we were putting together a roster,” DeVries said. “And then anytime you’re in the portal, those things can get a little tricky, as you’re trying to put that many guys on a roster at one time.”

It’s nothing new for Indiana — Woodson had a lucrative warchest after the 2023-24 season that helped him land some of the highest-rated players in the country. The school is also expected to be near the top of the conference in how much money from its anticipated $20.5 revenue-sharing budget it dedicates to men’s hoops.

“Just like last year, we’ll be highly competitive,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said back in March. “Not just in our league, but nationally.”

That commitment came at a crucial time with IU facing stiff competition from teams across the country for top talent. Five other teams in the Big Ten (Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, USC, and Washington) signed eight or more transfers.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.





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