Deion Sanders can show up for his daughter’s basketball game, but visiting high schools to recruit Colorado’s future stars? Apparently, that’s a different story.
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Former Buffaloes player Matt McChesney is calling out Coach Prime’s double standards after Sanders attended his daughter Shalomi’s exhibition basketball game without attracting a crowd, despite previously arguing that his celebrity status makes in-person recruiting visits difficult.
“Of course, I don’t have a problem with him going to see his daughter play basketball at all. My point is, get over yourself,” McChesney said on the Zero 2 Sixty Podcast.
What caught McChesney’s attention was how easily Sanders entered the gym, sat in the stands, and watched the game without being surrounded by fans.
“Where’s the mob of people? He’s in public, right? It’s just him and Bucky going to watch a basketball game,” McChesney questioned. “He walked in perfectly fine and sat in the stands, and nobody fucked with him at all.”
“You don’t need your 10-person security team and shit. No one cares. Yeah, you’re Coach Prime, but no one cares,” he added.
McChesney wants Sanders to start with Colorado’s own backyard, specifically naming Cherry Creek and Valor Christian as schools where the Buffaloes could build stronger recruiting relationships.
“Walk into Cherry Creek and recruit kids. Walk into Valor and recruit kids. Just do the state, man. We’ll start small,” he said.
Reportedly, since taking over Colorado in late 2022, Sanders hasn’t made a single off-campus recruiting visit to a high school or a recruit’s home. Instead, he prefers contacting prospects through FaceTime and bringing them to Boulder.
However, Colorado’s assistants haven’t completely abandoned traditional recruiting. Offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and running backs coach Johnnie Mack have reportedly made off-campus visits. Sanders himself, though, continues to stay away from the traditional recruiting trail.
In July 2026, Colorado reportedly had 20 commitments in its 2027 recruiting class, ranking third in the Big 12 according to 247Sports. While the Buffaloes were making progress, their head coach’s methods remained far from conventional.
Colorado’s 2026 recruiting class also struggled early. In June 2025, the Buffaloes reportedly ranked last in the Big 12 with just two commitments.
Sanders has defended his approach, arguing that traditional home visits waste university resources and that his celebrity status makes recruiting trips complicated.
“Going there is just showcasing for me. That’s just blowing money. It’s blowing a bag, don’t make sense,” Sanders said during a March 2024 press conference. “I can’t do things other coaches can do. You know why? I’m Coach Prime.”
Instead, Sanders prefers bringing prospects and their families to Boulder, where they can experience the campus and facilities firsthand. He has also explained that his recruiting strategy focuses heavily on players entering the transfer portal rather than traditional high school prospects.
But McChesney isn’t convinced that this justifies avoiding high schools altogether.
“This is just something that I saw that it makes me question everything because again, no one’s mobbing you, bro. I thought you were too popular to go out into the world,” he said.
His co-host then raised a specific example, suggesting that Sanders could have visited Cherry Creek and personally told 2028 four-star running back Elijah Cromwell, “Hey, I want you to come play for CU.”
Such a visit, the co-host suggested, could have made an impression on the prospect. But McChesney believes Sanders should have made that move much earlier, rather than waiting until the opportunity had slipped away.
“It should have happened immediately. And it’s never going to happen. It’s not going to happen. It didn’t happen. The dream is dead,” McChesney said.
Sanders has argued that his fame makes traditional recruiting visits complicated. But after watching Coach Prime attend his daughter’s basketball game without being mobbed, McChesney isn’t buying that excuse anymore.