Friendship turned LaJohntay Wester into a ditcher. Just because he had developed a strong bond with Shedeur Sanders during their stint at FAU, the wide receiver banked on the friendship to make his next move during the transfer. At first, Wester dreamt of being a part of the FSU team.

But being in constant touch over the phone as he and Shedeur exchanged numbers, the quarterback landing in QB made Wester buy the same ticket to Boulder. It was not a one-sided friendship, since when the wide receiver hit the portal, Shedeur too openly voiced his interest pleading Wester to be Boulder-bound. 

Wester’s leap of faith after getting influenced by Shedeur

The 5-foot-11, 167-pound WR did leave quite an impact at FAU becoming the game-changer being the Owls’ all-time leader in receptions (caught 252). As he received a “pro” tag from Deion Sanders for his dog mentality, he was sanguine to make Colorado his next home. What further fueled his interest was the connection he shared with his FAU mate, Shedeur. “Me and Shedeur we’ve been communicating about this since 2021 when we met at FAU yeah you know he was about to come to FAU so we exchanged numbers then and just we never really got out of contact,” came Wester’s affirmation on the Life and Football podcast. 

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Shedeur on hopping onto the Boulder bus, the wide receiver could no longer resist himself from committing to Deion Sanders’ program. Wester then thought to give it a try, “So when he (Shedeur) made that move to Colorado and I hit the portal…I was like let’s go through the process…I’mma even like it up at Colorado.” Just like Wester, Shedeur too wanted to extend their friendship in Boulder as well. 

Shedeur’s pursuit to get Wester in Boulder

Right before the portal, Shedeur was not shy about who he wanted as his teammate. The quarterback openly confessed his wants on X and wrote, “We want @la_wester in Boulder”. You must be wondering what left Shedeur to become so desperate to bring in his former teammate. Was it only the bond? No. Deion Sanders’ son took matters into his own hands, impressed by Wester’s statistics. Only one FBS wide receiver caught more passes than Wester in 2023, and that is Virginia’s Malik Washington. 

Over the last four seasons, the WR has accounted for 2,703 receiving yards. With this, Sanders had come up with a master plan of using Wester’s talents in the Buffs stacked receiver rotation. In one of his podcasts, Kevin Borba pointed out how among the multiple transfers, the WR has been an explosive addition to the Buffs’ offense since “he is one of the fastest guys in the country had.”

Apart from getting the green signal and praise from the Buffs HC and son Shedeur, Wester has been named a first-team All-American at punt returner by the Football Writers Association of America. The WR is virtually impossible to guard 1-on-1, evidenced by his production and film, and with his penchant for explosive plays. Hence no brownie points for guessing why Shedeur wanted him in Boulder.