Recruiting Analyst Gives Indiana Shot To Land No. 1 Quarterback Julian Lewis
It's rare for Indiana to be involved with the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the nation, but new head coach Curt Cignetti and his staff are making a push for class of 2025 prospect Julian Lewis.
The five-star quarterback may already be verbally committed to USC, but he recently took visits to Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Colorado. Not only is he the top-ranked quarterback, the 2025 ESPN Junior 300 ranks Lewis No. 1 in the nation among all players in his class.
So, does Indiana really stand a chance?
"Not what I would've expected to say 48 hours ago, but I'm going to give them a shot. I really do," Tom Loy of 247Sports said Thursday. "Honestly I'll just call my shot at this point. I don't see USC keeping him in their class."
"I see some other heavy hitters in this one, whether it's Georgia, Auburn, and I'm not ready to write off Indiana. I talked to somebody today that said Tino Sunseri – that relationship is very real. And let's be honest, if that kid steps on campus, there's nobody else that's going to keep that dude from playing in year one. He's that special of a talent. So I'm not ready to write [Indiana] off. People were making it very clear to me today that that relationship means a lot. They've known each other, like I said, for seven years, had him at a youth camp in Tallahassee. You know, relationships matter for a lot of these guys, and Juju's one of those guys that is carries a lot of weight."
Loy is referring to new Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, who came to Bloomington alongside Cignetti after coaching quarterbacks at James Madison. Cignetti, Sunseri and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan have a strong track record of success with quarterbacks at James Madison.
In 2021, quarterback Cole Johnson set the school's single-season records for passing yards, touchdowns and completions and won CAA Offensive Player of the Year. When James Madison moved up to the FBS and Sun Belt Conference in 2022, Todd Centeio won Offensive Player of the Year. And Jordan McCloud won Sun Belt Player of the Year in 2023.
“Right now, quarterbacks are attracted to us,” Cignetti said. “Because when you take four different guys in five years and they're all Player of the Year in the conference and they all have different styles, they recognize that you do a great job of developing quarterbacks. That's a credit to Tino Sunseri, our quarterback coach, and Mike Shanahan, offensive coordinator, and I'm involved in that a little bit too."
Lewis attends Carrollton High School in Georgia, near the Alabama border. ESPN lists him as a pocket passer, and he has certainly put up impressive passing numbers in high school.
As a freshman, he completed 283-of-432 (65.5%) attempts for 4,118 yards, 48 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 15 games. Most recently, Lewis completed 186-of-280 (66.4%) attempts for 3,094 yards, 48 touchdowns and two interceptions in 13 games as a sophomore, according to MaxPreps. Lewis reclassified to the class of 2025, so he'll play his senior season next fall, then move on to college for the 2025 season.
Indiana's quarterback room has gone through some reshuffling since the coaching change from Tom Allen to Cignetti. Starter Brendan Sorsby transferred to Cincinnati, and former starter Dexter Williams II transferred to Georgia Southern.
Tayven Jackson returns to Indiana for his redshirt sophomore year, and Broc Lowry is back for his redshirt freshman year. But the remaining scholarship quarterbacks are new, including Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke, who Indiana landed in the transfer portal to compete for the starting job.
Freshman Tyler Cherry – Indiana's second highest-ranked quarterback recruit of all time behind Donaven McCulley – will leave Center Grove High School a semester early to join the Hoosiers for spring practice. Another class of 2024 quarterback recruit, Alberto Mendoza, will be at Indiana for fall camp.
Related stories on Indiana football
- FEBRUARY CIGNETTI UPDATE: New Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti has rebuilt Indiana's 2024 roster through the transfer portal and high school recruiting over the last few months. He noted Wednesday that a few key players may not participate in spring practice and that Indiana may need to add defensive depth when the transfer portal opens again in the spring. CLICK HERE
- TRANSFER TRACKER: Welcome to our Indiana football transfer portal tracker, where we'll keep an updated list of all of the outgoing and incoming transfers following the 2023 season and heading into the 2024 season with a new coaching staff. CLICK HERE
- 2024 SCHEDULE: Here are the dates for the 2024 Indiana football schedule, with game time and TV information to be announced at a later date. CLICK HERE
- 2024 ROSTER: The spring semester at Indiana University began Monday, and the football program has posted its first 2024 roster ahead of spring football practice. Here's a look at each position group for Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
