After making an early commitment to the previous coaching staff at Michigan, Mantrez Walker just continued to pick up scholarship offers.
It means more unofficial visits would also take place for the Buford (Ga.) High School linebacker, who he reset his recruitment during his junior football season. Several programs have emerged since, but he waited to make his commitment announcement until he was back on campus at Colorado Saturday.
“It’s great to be a Buffalo!” Walker told Rivals. “It’s really just their constant communication and them showing me that I’m a priority. They came to the school when they could and when I went out there I felt like I could relate to those coaches the most. And then the connections with them being from the NFL.
“I just feel like college football is changing and Coach Prime is going in the right direction with his new regime. Colorado is going nothing but up.”
Walker made it back to Boulder for the program’s spring game this weekend, where he was again privy to the energy around perhaps the sport’s most talked-about program. It lessens the magnitude of moving across the country for college.
“Boulder is cool, the air is clean, it’s a nice environment with nice people,” he said. “And now with Deion (Sanders) being there, I feel like it makes the town that much happier. It’s something I’ll get used to seeing.”
The inside linebacker projection of course connected with Sanders leading up to his decision, but also with CU linebackers coach Andre’ Hart. The familiarity has the physical prospect feeling like he has long been on board despite the novelty of his decision coming in over the weekend.
It means Walker is already focused on helping build the Buffs class of 2025. A pitch to other prep prospects has already been formed.
“Come make history,” he said. “Come be a part of history. A Hall-of-Famer coming back to be a head coach only happens once in a lifetime, so come be a part of something while it’s hot.
“We can keep this thing rolling.”
Walker is the third commitment for Sanders’ staff over the weekend. Secondary prospect Alex Graham picking the Buffs on Friday night.
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John Garcia Jr., National Recruiting Analyst
