BOULDER, Colo. — Since his arrival on the Boulder campus last December, the extent of the "Prime Effect" has taken all of us by surprise--even his own daughter, Shelomi.
"It's something, it's crazy. Just the influence and the impact that he has over the whole city of Boulder and even outside of that," Shelomi said.
His impact is being felt all over campus and throughout the different athletic programs. There's some obvious self-interest with his own daughter on the squad, but Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders has shown nothing but love for the CU women's basketball team, and vice versa.
"We have a tremendous head women's basketball coach, which I adore," he said. "And I told her any recruiting help you need, you got me! And they take me up on that and I love it when they bring the young women in that's going to advance their program."
The feelings and respect are mutual for head coach JR Payne.
"What I love most is that he is messaging the same things that we value: toughness, accountability, hard work, do your job, be the best you can be, so that's what I love most," Payne said.
But, a little extra attention around town never hurts either. Like for instance, when her team appeared on not one, but two morning television shows prior to the football team's national slots.
"100 percent, absolutely," she said. "The people that love not just Coach Prime, but his program, his career, everything that he's done, if those eyes turn toward our program, even just for a minute, or a game, or a season, or whatever, I think that's a really great thing."
The team's star point guard Jaylyn Sherrod has returned for her fifth and final season. While she's used to being in the spotlight for her jaw-dropping plays, Sherrod is still astonished with the new-look campus.
"[There's] a sense of community right now in terms of the athletic programs and how it is a lot of the football success but it is a lot of the other programs that are feeding off of that success as well," she said.
As proud of his youngest, "Bossy," as Prime is, Shelomi is in awe of the way her father leaves a mark on the ones around him.
"Just how he carries himself and his confidence it's like it makes other people look like, dang like, let me be more like myself," Shelomi said. "Let me be unapologetically me."
Perhaps with a little more of that confidence, she can rise in the Sanders kid rankings, made famous by her brother Shilo claiming he's the favorite of Prime's five children.
"You know, it feels good when it happens, but I think I'm like four-five right now," she joked. "I'm just saying because Shedeur and Shilo have been really good lately. But I don't know, I think me and Deion are last. No, shoot, I don't really know!"
The CU women's basketball team tips off its season against the NCAA reigning national champion LSU Tigers on Nov 6 in Las Vegas.