On Friday night, Coach Prime suffered a rare recruiting loss, as 2024’s No. 2 ranked cornerback, Charles Lester III, chose to join the FSU Seminoles over the CU Buffs.
Lester was reportedly down to those two programs for his final decision, which provided Colorado fans some optimism, considering Coach Prime had twice previously poached top cornerback recruits from Florida schools (Cormani McClain flipped his commitment from the Miami Hurricanes and Travis Hunter flipped his commitment from the Florida State to Jackson State). Unfortunately, Coach Prime wasn’t successful in his heist this time, despite flying Lester out for a last-second surprise visit.
That said, the Colorado Buffaloes won’t give up hope just yet. Again, both Cormani McClain and Travis Hunter signed with Coach Prime after previously committing to other schools. Prime will have the entire 2023 season to attempt to woo Lester to Boulder.
Missing out on Lester is largely disappointing because landing him would’ve provided the CU Buffs with an embarrassment of riches at cornerback for 2024.
With Lester in the fold, Colorado would have had 2022’s No. 1 cornerback, 2023’s No. 1 cornerback, and 2024’s No. 2 cornerback for the 2024 campaign, and that doesn’t even include the numerous defensive back recruits the CU Buffs added from SEC programs and blue-blood schools, via the transfer portal.
With that in mind, even despite losing out on Lester, the Buffs’ secondary is in terrific shape for the future.
