Four-star athlete Aaron Butler committed to Colorado on Tuesday, pledging his commitment to the Buffaloes on first-year coach Deion Sanders' Instagram Live. Butler, from Calabasas, California, is ranked as the No. 65 player in the 2024 class, No. 9 player in the state of California and the No. 5 at his position in the cycle, according to 247Sports. Butler picked Colorado over some of the premier programs in the nation such as Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Oregon and others.
"My last visit was for the spring game and you can just tell big things are coming," Butler told 247Sports. "I see a lot of opportunity to step in play right away and I love the talent that's coming in. I know a lot of people were stressing about the players leaving but trust, there are some dogs coming in."
This marks the fifth commitment for Sanders and the Buffs in the 2024 recruiting cycle. Butler joins Omar White, Eric Brantley, Danny O'Neil and Talan Chandler. Colorado's 2024 recruiting class ranks No. 5 in the Pac-12 behind USC, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Colorado is ranked first in the 247Sports transfer portal team rankings for 2023, ahead of conference rival USC.
Butler committed to USC on Jan. 29, 2022, but retracted his pledge earlier this year on Jan. 11. This spring he made trips to Georgia and Colorado, and has official visits planned for the summer at Alabama and Washington.
Butler committing on Sanders' Instagram Live feed may raise some questions about NCAA violations, which is a murky subject as it pertains to social media use. As Butler joined the feed to talk about his commitment -- which he initially made in the comments section -- to the program, Sanders exited the frame and celebrated in the background so as to not violate NCAA recruiting rules which state coaches aren't allowed to publicly talk about prospects until they sign their national letter of intent. Butler left the Instagram Live after making his commitment.
