A Division II football coach said Deion Sanders and his team in Colorado had tampered with one of his commits.
Philip Vigil, head coach of Colorado State-Pueblotook to social media to accuse the Buffaloes staff of this behavior, posting screenshots of what appeared to be a text message exchange between one of Vigil’s future players and the Buffaloes’ assistant personnel director Colorado players, Devin Rispress.
The messages were a screenshot of the player’s phone, and the image showed the staff member asking if the player was a “full commitment” to CSU-Pueblo. When the player answered “yes”, a new message arrived asking if he would consider changing commitments.
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Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes before a game against the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl Stadium on October 28, 2023, in Pasadena, California. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The player said he would have to discuss any potential move with his family, and the two shared another exchange with the coach saying he “will be able to make it happen in the next offseason.”
Vigil posted the screenshots and took aim at the Colorado program, including Sanders.
“Hey @NCAA and @Big12Conference, is this considered tampering, or are (Rispress) and {Colorado} capable of recruiting our current players like this?” Vigil wrote, tagging Sanders with a thoughtful, shrugging emoji.
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during a spring game at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado on April 27, 2024. (Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports)
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The exchange between Rispress and the player never happened, the Colorado staffer said. In fact, he claims someone was pretending to be him.
“Nice try, you all got caught by the wrong guy, bro,” Rispress responded. “You could have contacted me before tweeting this and embarrassing your program.”
Vigil then deleted the post and sent back what appeared to be a response.
“College athletics is changing rapidly and it is my job to support my players and our program. I have removed my social media post to allow the NCAA to address this situation and similar behavior in college athletics .” Posted vigil.
Neither school responded to a request for comment.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders walks to the locker room after players warm up before a game against Southern California on September 30, 2023, in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Vigil and Sanders are entering their second seasons with their respective schools.
Colorado went 4-8 last year after a 3-0 start, while CSU-Pueblo went 8-3 and finished third in the standings. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
The University of Colorado had no comment for this story.
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