The University of Colorado’s athletic department chose to halt the livestream of its weekly coaches program featuring Deion Sanders and also pulled two episodes from YouTube last autumn. This action was taken after a notable football recruit’s name was mentioned during the show, which breached NCAA regulations, as reported by YSL News Sports.

This minor violation occurred in November when quarterback recruit Julian “JuJu” Lewis’s name was mentioned prior to his signing with Colorado on December 4. NCAA guidelines generally prevent schools from discussing or promoting recruits before they’ve formally signed. Colorado self-reported this breach and implemented corrective actions, including additional education regarding rules for Sanders, the head coach, and a reduction of four recruiting-person days during the spring 2025 contact period.

The school also committed to “establishing new internal controls over the football weekly coaches show,” as outlined in their report. “The content will no longer be livestreamed so that external relations can review and modify materials that might be considered improper publicity of (recruits).”

This incident was one of at least six self-reported minor infractions within the Colorado football program in 2024, according to records acquired by YSL News Sports. Prior to these, Colorado had also recorded at least 11 minor self-reported violations in Sanders’s inaugural year, having been hired in December 2022.

It is important to note that minor violations like these are relatively frequent in college sports and are not treated as serious unless they indicate a larger trend or if schools fail to report them. For instance, both Georgia and Ohio State also reported four minor violations in their football programs during various times in 2023-24.

What transpired in the Julian Lewis situation?

Lewis did nothing wrong and his eligibility to play at Colorado remained intact. However, after he publicly committed to Colorado on November 21, his name was mentioned twice during Sanders’ weekly show, which airs on a public YouTube channel managed by the school.

This would have been permissible if Lewis had officially signed with CU before being mentioned. The issue arose because he had not yet signed and was not eligible to do so until December 4, the kickoff of the early signing period.

The first instance occurred on the day Lewis announced his commitment on November 21. The show’s host, Mark Johnson, discussed this significant news but did not mention Lewis’ name. Instead, he questioned Sanders about how he connects with recruits and their families.

In response, Sanders provided an example of his recruiting approach, saying, “Hey, get JuJu on the phone and get his dad on the phone. Let’s see if his father wants to come down and chat with me.”

Sanders remarked about the father, stating, “He came to my office a few weeks back for a couple of hours.” He added, “I said, ‘Come on, ask me anything since I know you have so many questions.’ And we had that conversation. He left feeling very comfortable about what lies ahead.”

`Pulled off YouTube’

After the school recognized the “impermissible publicity” surrounding the unsigned recruit, the episode was removed from YouTube just hours later.

Six days afterward, the same coaches show aired again featuring Sanders and a different host filling in for Johnson. This substitute host, who is not a university employee, mentioned Lewis while discussing Sanders’ preparations for an upcoming bowl game – a valid inquiry for any journalist. In this instance, Sanders avoided naming Lewis and a university official promptly interrupted the show to redirect the topic.

Still, it was classified as improper since Lewis was mentioned on the school’s coaches show.

“The show was taken down from YouTube within less than an hour,” the school’s report about the incidents states. It clarifies that both occurrences were unintentional and “not a deliberate attempt to gain any recruiting advantage.” The report also noted that both Sanders and Johnson “have previously undergone education regarding recruiting publicity rules.”

Self-reporting these violations and taking corrective action is seen as a sign of responsibility and honesty by the NCAA, unlike concealing them. The school has not provided further comments but previously stated that it is dedicated to adhering to NCAA regulations and treats “all infractions seriously, regardless of their severity.”

Why was this against NCAA rules?

Similar to various NCAA regulations, the prohibition against discussing unsigned recruits was established by member schools for good reason, even if it may seem minor. This rule alleviates pressure from NCAA coaches, preventing them from feeling obliged to publicly promote every recruit they are interested in.

“The NCAA’s bylaws regarding recruiting publicity aim to maintain the confidentiality of the recruiting process between university personnel and prospective student-athletes, primarily to reduce interference in prospective athletes’ lives and to ensure fairness in the recruiting process,” explained Joshua Lens, an associate professor at Iowa with previous experience in NCAA rules compliance at Baylor.

Versions of this rule have existed for decades, as indicated by NCAA records. In 1972, St. John’s University faced reprimand from the NCAA for holding a press luncheon to celebrate the agreement of two recruits. In 1982, West Virginia received a sanction from the NCAA for its basketball coach’s participation in a press conference with a recruit to announce his commitment to the program.

What other violations occurred in Colorado football?

The additional NCAA reports reviewed by YSL News Sports detailed mainly minor violations of procedural rules, including some stemming from 2023 that seemingly were not finalized until 2024.

In one situation, a recruit signed with Colorado on December 20, 2023, while vacationing in Florida, where he met an active Colorado player who was also in Florida. The player’s brother was present too and interacted with the same recruit on December 22.

However, since this contact took place during NCAA’s “dead period,” and since the brother is deemed a “representative of Colorado’s athletic interests,” this interaction counted as a minor violation. Consequently, the school promised to offer rules education and decrease recruiting-person days by two.

The report indicated that the brother assumed the interaction was allowed because he is not a member of the football staff and doesn’t recruit for Colorado.

In another incident from September 2023, a recruit attended a go-karting event for recreation, which cost $67. Per NCAA rule 13.6.7.4, schools may only spend up to $60 per individual for entertaining prospective student-athletes. To rectify this $7 discrepancy, the recruit was rendered ineligible until he repaid the amount to a charity.

“Rules education on providing entertainment during official visits was conducted for the football recruiting staff as well as the entire football staff,” stated the school’s report.

Other minor violations included prospective recruits accessing a premium seating area at a football game when they shouldn’t have and improper observation of a contact drill by a strength and conditioning coach.

None of these incidents led to significant penalties.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer.