The 5-star QB recruit, Julian Lewis, has kept the programs on their toes right from the beginning of 2024. Even though the Carrollton High School star had given his words to Lincoln Riley and USC Trojans, he lives by the motto ‘no feeling is final.’ So he kept himself open, hopping from one to other, visiting programs. But who landed the greatest blow from Lewis?

It’s none other than Indiana Hoosiers HC Curt Cignetti. What’s sad is the fact that the fans are not yet ready to come up with some healing balm for the HC as they are too sure about Lewis’ next home. 

Indiana’s response to failing to land Julian Lewis

It’s heartbreak time for the Indiana folks. That’s quite relevant from the program’s social media posts. On November 7, Rivals posted, “@AdamGorney has confirmed that 5-star QB Julian Lewis will NOT be visiting Indiana this weekend for its game against Michigan.” Yes, even their undefeated 9-0 streak was not enough for the Hoosiers to woo Lewis. Now how could Cignetti’s squad keep quiet after such an insult? Even though the program did not directly say anything, their recruiting page came up with a reply in their story. A part of it read, “Indiana will no longer recruit 5-star QB in 2025, Julian Lewis. After canceling 2 visits to Indiana, we have closed the book on him.” 

They also stated the reason behind where it went wrong with landing the 5-star QB. Looks like Cignetti’s program is not in the right state to offer what Lewis is looking for. They stated, “He’s looking to come in and start as a freshman, and we didn’t guarantee him a starting role from the jump.” You must be wondering in case the Hoosiers would have bent a bit, they could have landed Lewis. But maybe deep down they knew that in no way they would reach the standards of the red-carpet treatment that Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are pro at giving Lewis. And that’s where Indiana lost their fans’ empathy.    

Fans hold Indiana responsible for the Julian Lewis snub

You can now do your calculations. Lewis turning down one program after the other, you can now get his intentions, right? Yes, the QB star is bound to land with the Buffs. Maybe fans are jumping to the conclusion that Cignetti took it easy in the recruiting race to land Lewis as QB Kyron Drones got the offer in 2020 and after so long trying for the 5-star QB, “Kyron Drones starts the first 5 games, then it’s Juju time.”

“Nobody is guaranteed anything on this team, but I respect the cope,” Cignetti’s moves have come off as unpredictable but a fan came up praising the program for how respectfully they have dealt with the snub from Lewis. The Hoosiers explaining why they called it off with the 5-star QB commit is something not every program bothers to disclose. Thus a surprised fan commented, “Never seen a recruiting page disclose the “why” they are not recruiting a player anymore. They big mad..”

To another fan pops up another theory of the Hoosiers trying to pair up Lewis with any other player of their choice that didn’t sit well with the QB—“Maybe they needed to reel in another recruit, and that recruit wasn’t going to come with JuJu being there…so maybe they needed to show that…” Well, now it’s an open secret that the Buffs QB Shedeur Sanders’ position who holds a $6.2 million NIL valuation will be too hard for the 5-star QB commit to resist as a fan dropped in with his prediction with a lock emoji, “He’s a Buff 🔒” It’s just a waiting game until Julian Lewis dons the black and gold jersey!