Colorado Buffaloes Turning Northwestern Trip Into Recruiting Opportunity

Colorado used its week in Illinois to offer five Brother Rice players, from 2028 edge Kameron McGee to 2030 quarterback Sam Holcomb.

Deion Sanders' staff offered five Brother Rice players across three recruiting classes during Northwestern week in Illinois. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Colorado is in Illinois for the Northwestern game, and director of player personnel Darius Darden-Box added a recruiting stop to the trip. Allen Trieu of Rivals reported that Darden-Box watched a full Brother Rice practice in Chicago this week and extended offers to five players.

The group spans three recruiting classes (2028 edge rusher Kameron McGee, 2028 tight end Jack McNamara, 2028 offensive lineman Tyler Houlf, 2029 offensive lineman C.J. Anderson, and 2030 quarterback Sam Holcomb). The players’ social posts confirmed the offers, and Trieu reported that Colorado is targeting October visits.

Colorado director of player personnel Darius Darden-Box watched a Brother Rice practice and extended five offers. | CBS Sports-images

This obviously makes it more than a one-player stop. Brother Rice is the defending Illinois Class 7A champion, and Colorado came away interested in players at four different positions before its kickoff Saturday.

Kameron McGee No. 1 in the 2028 class

McGee is the biggest name in the group. 247Sports moved him to No. 1 overall in the 2028 class in August. Other services see him differently; the current Rivals Industry ranking has him No. 18 nationally, while Rivals’ own ranking has him at No. 55. The important point is that every major service regards him as a national prospect.

His production explains the attention. McGee finished his sophomore season with 54 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 10.5 sacks as Brother Rice won the Class 7A state title. In the championship shutout of St. Rita, he recorded six tackles, two tackles for loss, and two sacks.

Colorado added 2028 edge rusher Kameron McGee, 247Sports' No. 1 overall prospect in the class, to its offer list. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Colorado joins a crowded recruitment for Kameron McGee

Colorado is entering a recruitment that has been busy for a long time. The Chicago Sun-Times reported 44 scholarship offers before Colorado joined the list, including Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia. McGee also has a Georgia visit scheduled for Oct. 17 and has made trips to schools including Miami, Oregon, and Notre Dame.

No need to pretend Colorado is entering into an empty race here. The offer gives the Buffs a place in it, and an October trip to Boulder would allow Darden-Box and the staff to shift the discussion beyond a practice visit.

The other four make the Brother Rice stop more interesting

Colorado also offered Brother Rice offensive linemen Tyler Houlf and C.J. Anderson. | USA TODAY Sports

McNamara gives Colorado another national 2028 recruit from the same school. The 6-5, 235-pound tight end has offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, and several other Power Five programs.

The youngest offer may be the most telling. Holcomb is a 2030 quarterback who is playing varsity football as a freshman and entered the season with offers from Michigan and UConn. After Darden-Box visited practice, Holcomb thanked him publicly for the Colorado offer.

Houlf adds another 2028 offensive line target, while Anderson gives Colorado a 2029 lineman from the same program. Instead of leaving Chicago with one name to track, Colorado now has five Brother Rice players spread across three classes.

Darius Darden-Box has become Colorado’s point man on the road

Colorado moved Darden-Box from director of recruiting to director of player personnel after the 2025 season. The title changed, but the road work is pretty much the same thing. Records obtained by USA TODAY Sports show he made 103 off-campus evaluations last year and another 17 off-campus contacts during the April and May 2026 contact period.

USA TODAY also reported that Darden-Box often serves as the staffer who extends scholarship offers. This Brother Rice stop fits the same pattern (get into the school, see the players in person, and keep Colorado’s high school recruits pushing forward).

Speaking at Big 12 Media Day in Frisco in July, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he liked the direction of that work.

“I'm loving what we’re doing recruiting-wise right now. We’re right where we want to be, and we’re going to even get better,” Sanders said.

Colorado has three October home games as the staff works to bring Brother Rice prospects to Boulder. | Matthew Jonas/Daily Camera

October visits are the next part of Colorado’s pitch

Trieu reported that Colorado is targeting October visits with players from Brother Rice, but no prospect has publicly confirmed a specific Colorado weekend yet. That distinction is important because the Buffaloes have three home dates in October (Texas Tech Oct. 3, Utah Oct. 17 and Kansas State Oct. 31).

The offer sweep was the easy part of it all. The next thing to keep an eye on is which of the five Brother Rice players makes it to Boulder and how seriously Colorado can enter those recruitments the moment the discussion moves from a Chicago practice to Folsom Field.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news.