Brandon Arrington is currently one of the most sought-after players in the 2026 recruitment cycle. The reason? The guy is a Travis Hunter 2.0 and can play both ways as a receiver and a defensive end. To top it off, Arrington is a track and field athlete and possesses exceptional athleticism and speed. So almost every major college in the country is after him, including giants like USC, Oregon, and Penn State. But Arrington? Well, his eyes seem to be set on a high-profile emerging Big 12 program.

Arrington currently plays for Spring Valley, California, and is a prospect of the 2026 class. Standing at 6’2″ and 180 lbs, the player is a natural athlete, both on the track and football field. His achievements compile an impressive list of accolades. Well, Arrington showed his prowess in track and field by clocking his personal best 100m sprint in just 10.43 seconds. He was a Gatorade Player of the Year as a sophomore. Add to that the young lad has broken Olympian Noah Lyles’ record at the Arcadia Invitational by clocking a 200-meter sprint in just 20.35 seconds. Now, imagine these figures coming onto a football field.

Think of Brandon Arrington as a mini Carl Lewis who plays football. Last season alone, he got 26 tackles and 527 receiving yards in high school. Now add the ability to make big strides and hawk-eyed football tracking with the combination of the rushing game. Well, you just got yourself a Heisman contender. Although that journey is far ahead for him, the player has finally signaled where his dream for the coveted Heisman could become a reality.

On May 23rd, Brandon Arrington shared a motivational post on his X account by Deion Sanders that looked quite moving. “I need you to go to the next level. I need you to elevate. I need you to dominate. I need you to win it…. because you’ve got to believe….All you’ve got to do is stop worrying.” Coach Prime was firm at his point; faith is the foundation of greatness. “Let me tell you what, Faith and worry don’t get along. They don’t coincide. They ain’t dogs, they ain’t homies, they ain’t brothers. They ain’t friends. They can’t cohabitate. You got to believe that means you got to have faith . 2025. It’s our turn, it’s our turn.” The video is impassionate, and Arrington seems quite moved by the video as he captioned his X post, “100,” signaling agreement with coach Prime. So what does this hint at?

Well, it means that the player looks quite eager to join Colorado since it will be the only place where he will get the freedom to play both ways. The path taken by Travis Hunter is still fresh, and Arrington is looking to follow that path. In terms of visits, Arrington hasn’t visited Colorado yet, as USC leads the list with 4 visits. But after seeing this, we can see one more OV being added to his list for June. And, who knows, Coach Prime’s latest recruiting strategy might be working wonders?

“Think about that. A celebrity as big as Deion didn’t go on the road to try to sign top-level high school players. What’s the point of being famous if you aren’t going to use it in all aspects of the job?” ‘The Athletic’s’ Ari Wasserman rightly questioned Deion Sanders’ reluctance to visit recruits personally in high schools. Bill Belichick is doing that and using his charisma and legacy to persuade those five-star recruits. But Deion Sanders to date hasn’t made a single trip on the road for recruiting, but despite that, his recruitment seems to be flourishing. What’s the secret sauce behind this paradox?

Change needed for Deion Sanders in his recruitment philosophy?

Traditionally, in college football, the head coach would visit the highly sought-after targets and try to persuade them with their personal touch of recruiting. For Deion Sanders, all of this happened, but not in person. His coaches traveled and recruited prospects while Deion Sanders would tune in through video calls or phone calls. Part of the reason why he did so because in the initial 2 years, the head coach’s strategy wasn’t too high school focused.

After Deion Sanders arrived at Colorado, the head coach brought in a whopping 50 transfers in total for his 2023 class. This was understandable since in the first season, no head coach can recruit from high school too much. But then the 2024 class came in, and again the story was the same. Now, Coach Prime got the full recruitment cycle and still signed just 13 high school commits, and again brought in 45 transfers.

The strategy paid off, and the Buffs’ next season finished 9-4. A massive feat for Colorado, which was 1-11 in 2022. But this model isn’t sustainable, and high school recruiting is coming back in Deion Sanders’ philosophy. But the head coach isn’t visiting, though; in return, he has every different but effective strategy.

The 2026 class has seen some resurgence in high school recruiting with the program after some of the best recruits for the class. These include 5-star OT Felix Ojo and 4-star recruits like Deacon Schmitt (OT) and Breck Kolojay (OT).  Ojo even praised Coach Prime for changing the game. He said, “I feel like (Coach) Deion is changing the game over there at Colorado.” So it seems so far that Deion Sanders’ focus on high school is paying off. Brandon Arrington’s speculated commitment is just the tip of the iceberg, we are currently seeing, hinting at a broader shift in how Coach Prime is reshaping the program.