BOULDER — Just a few months after joining the Colorado program, Danny Scudero was already used by Deion Sanders as an example for his new Buffaloes teammates.

“You see him, how he’s dressed. That’s how I want all of y’all to dress. You see him, how he plays. That’s how I want every last one of you receivers to play,” Coach Prime said he told several CU players before the team’s spring game last month. 

“He is the role model of that room.”

The Buffs knew the kind of player they were getting when they signed Scudero out of the transfer portal. 

While at San Jose State, the junior wide receiver led FBS in receiving yards last season, earning second-team All-American honors while also being one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation’s top receiver.

But what CU also hoped to get was a leader for its revamped roster after a disappointing 2025 season featuring a Sanders era-worst 3-9 record had as much to do with the talent on the field as the personalities in the locker room.

Scudero, who is living outside of Northern California for the first time, hasn’t had any issue adjusting to a new team and a new role.

“With the guys in that room and especially the coaches here, it doesn’t really feel like a challenge,” Scudero said. “Everybody’s pushing everybody (else) in that room. You hold each other to a standard and hold each other accountable and with that, it doesn’t seem like a challenge. It just seems like you’re coming and playing football with your best friends every day. It really makes it seem fun and easy.”

Fun and easy is how Scudero makes the game of football look, too.

After he had just one scholarship offer coming out of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose — the same place that produced Nuggets star Aaron Gordon — Scudero has worked his way from FCS Sacramento State to the Mountain West and now to the Big 12, where he has a chance to again put up big numbers in a receiver-friendly offense in new coordinator Brennan Marion’s “GoGo” system.

Along with Texas transfer DeAndre Moore, Scudero projects to be a top target for a returning starter at quarterback in sophomore Julian “JuJu” Lewis. The two even connected for a 13-yard touchdown in the team’s April 11 spring game that showcased why Scudero was able to catch 88 passes for nearly 1,300 yards last fall.

“It definitely takes some time (to learn) just because it’s a brand-new offense. But, it’s so fun to be a part of because of the variety of everything that you can do,” Scudero said. “I find that stuff fun. We were able to display what we truly have here and it’s a fun offense to be a part of.”

What Coach Prime sees for Scudero in what the Buffs hope is a productive final two years of his college career is something akin to one of his favorite NFL wide receivers of the last 15 years, former Patriots star and Super Bowl 53 MVP Julian Edelman.

Sanders knows Edelman personally and made a point to connect Scudero with Edelman this spring to pick up some tricks from a fellow undersized slot receiver who went unnoticed early in his college career.

“I wanted to connect the two because (Edelman) could give him some tremendous insight because Danny got that ‘it’ that (Edelman) had,” Sanders said. “I wanted him to learn from someone of that nature and that stature that’s a bona fide winner because that’s who Danny is.”

Such is life in Boulder, Scudero has quickly learned.

“That was a crazy interaction with Coach Prime because growing up watching football, seeing Julian Edelman do his thing and all of the plays he’d make, it was a surreal moment for me to think that I’m getting connected with him,” Scudero said. “Just the idea of being able to talk to such a legend like him, it’s a huge ‘Thank you’ to Coach Prime for that opportunity.”