BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Each win brings Deion Sanders and the 16th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes closer and closer to a spot in the Big 12 title game. It also brings more and more speculation about his future in Boulder.
Sanders tamped that down on Tuesday.
“I’m happy where I am, man. I’m good. I’ve got a kickstand down," the coach said at his weekly news conference. "It means I’m resting. I’m good. I’m happy. I’m excited. I’m enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here. Truly do.”
Sitting to the side of the room was athletic director Rick George, which made for what could've been an uncomfortable moment when Sanders was asked about his name being brought up for potential job openings in the NFL or other colleges.
Sanders playfully responded: “That’s so disrespectful. You gonna talk about me going somewhere with my AD in here? They mentioned us with a lot of other stuff before we start winning, too, didn’t they?”
Sanders brought a special guest with him to his weekly chat — a Colorado superfan who happened to be turning 100 on Tuesday. Sanders has become tight with Peggy Coppom and has even dedicated this season to getting the new centenarian to a bowl game.
“Which bowl do you want to go to?” Sanders inquired.
“I'll take anything they give us,” she responded.
It just might an appearance in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. The Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1 Big 12, No. 16 CFP ) have plenty of work ahead to get there. A critical test awaits this weekend when they travel to Arrowhead Stadium to face Kansas (4-6, 3-4), which has posted back-to-back wins over Top 25 teams.
That certainly has the full attention of the Buffaloes, who remain in the driver's seat for a spot in the conference's championship game.
“I don’t plan on failing. I never make plans to fail," Sanders said when asked about guarding against letdown games coming off a fourth straight win. “I don’t even like having insurance, but it’s something they tell me I must do. So I don’t plan to fail whatsoever. We plan on being dominant and having success.”
In two seasons, Sanders has completely captivated the community and energized the fan base. The school is selling out Folsom Field, with the announced attendance of 54,646 last weekend for a 49-24 win over Utah the largest in 19 years. The program keeps appearing on national broadcasts, too, with all 12 games on either network TV or the flagship ESPN.
“He’s given our whole community and the university all this attention,” Coppom said as Sanders announced plans to launch an apparel line in her honor. “This is all unbelievable. So that’s what he is, kind of unbelievable.”
The same can be said for two-way standout and Heisman Trophy hopeful Travis Hunter, who is up for numerous accolades. He is trying to follow in the footsteps of his coach by winning the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to college football’s top defensive back.
“Travis is the best defensive player and the best offensive player in the country, so if that stabilizes and authenticates who he is, so let it be,” Sanders said. “I don’t see anybody better. I don’t see anyone projected better.
“Matter of fact, why don’t they have me an award, Rick? Wouldn’t that be good if a player that played for me wins the ‘Prime'?”
“We'll work on that,” George cracked.
“Best corner in college football, it should be called the ‘Prime,’" Sanders added.
The word that Sanders harped on this week with the team was “finish.” Sanders said he showed his squad a clip of a race that came down to the wire, with one of the runners diving across the finish line.
“The one who dove wanted it a little more than the other,” Sanders explained. “We're going to be the one that dove. We’re going to finish with every darn thing we've got.”
NOTES: QB Shedeur Sanders and the Buffaloes may have banged-up receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. for the Kansas game. “If he shows me he can run, he’s going to play," Deion Sanders said. “Just Jimmy’s presence out there on the field alone strikes fear in the opposition.” ... DT Amari McNeill was the Big 12's co-defensive player of the week.
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Colorado head coach Deion Sanders runs as players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders looks on as players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A man convicted of human smuggling testified Tuesday that he shuttled more than 500 Indian migrants across the U.S.-Canada border over four years as part of an international smuggling ring that prosecutors said led to the deaths of a family of four.
Rajinder Singh, 51, said he made over $400,000 as part of the sprawling scheme that included two men who are now on trial for human smuggling. Federal prosecutors said he preyed on Indian nationals’ dreams of a better life in the U.S., just like the men on trial.
Singh took the stand on the second day of the trial of Indian national Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, and Steve Shand, 50, of Florida. Prosecutors say they put financial profit over human life when they attempted to smuggle Indian migrants across the border into Minnesota over a five-week period. They say Patel ran part of the smuggling scheme and recruited Shand as a driver. Both men have pleaded not guilty to four counts related to human smuggling.
Singh said he never met Patel or Shand, but he heard about them through a high-ranking member of the smuggling operation. Singh provided an inside account of how the international smuggling ring allegedly works and who it targets.
Singh said most of the people he smuggled came from Gujarat state. He said the migrants would often pay smugglers about $100,000 to get them from India to the U.S., where they would work to pay off their debts at low-wage jobs in cities around the country. Singh said the smugglers would run their finances through “hawala,” an informal money transfer system that relies on trust.
Singh entered the U.S. illegally three times after getting deported following convictions on multiple federal charges. He said he is testifying because it is the right thing to do.
“They are playing with people’s lives,” Singh said of the smugglers. "People died.”
Patel’s attorneys suggested that Singh is testifying because he doesn’t want to go back to India and face potential retribution from those running the smuggling ring. In exchange for his testimony, Singh’s deportation will be deferred and he will be given a temporary work permit.
After getting people into Canada with student visas, Singh said he usually smuggled people from British Columbia into Washington state, where he would order Uber drivers to pick up the migrants. But in late 2021, the operation's leaders changed their plans. They began sending people to cross the border into Minnesota instead of Washington state.
Federal prosecutors say the family of four — 39-year-old Jagdish Patel; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik — froze to death Jan. 19, 2022. Patel is a common Indian surname and the victims were not related to Harshkumar Patel.
The other witnesses called by the prosecution on Tuesday said conditions were brutal when the victims trudged through vast, snow-filled fields and high winds the night they tried to cross from Canada into the U.S.
Daryl Ritchison, a climatologist and director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network, told jurors that anytime weather conditions and windchills drop into the minus 30s Fahrenheit, frostbite can occur within 10 minutes.
Troy Larson, a mechanic who works at a compressor station just south of the border, said he helped dig Shand's 15-passenger white van out of a ditch that frigid January morning. After the van drove away, he saw a border patrol vehicle pull up alongside it.
Border patrol agent Christopher Oliver testified that he was driving that vehicle. He said that in the weeks prior, he had seen footprints in the snow and suspected people had been trying to cross the border. He said he spotted the van, pulled it over, identified Shand as the driver and arrested him along with two passengers.
One of those passengers, Yash Patel, is expected to testify this week.
One of Shand’s attorneys, Lisa Lopez, asked the jury to differentiate between the two defendants. She said Shand was an unwitting participant in the smuggling ring.
“Mr. Shand was used by Mr. Patel. And being used does not equate under the law to being guilty of conspiracy,” Lopez said.
Lopez said Shand and the migrants were duped by Patel and the smuggling network. Aaron Morrison, Shand's other attorney, said his client never attempted to conceal his identity while working with Patel, as those involved in human smuggling normally do. He also pointed out that human smuggling rings often outsource some of their work to unwitting participants.
On Tuesday, Thomas Leinenweber, Patel's attorney, argued that Shand’s defense is antagonistic and prejudicial against his client.
Prosecutors say Shand told investigators that Patel paid him about $25,000 for the five trips. They filed court documents showing Harshkumar Patel was in the U.S. illegally after being refused a visa at least five times and that he recruited Shand at a casino near their homes in Deltona, Florida, just north of Orlando.
The morning the Patel family died, Singh said he woke up to a slew of missed calls from one of his associates in the smuggling ring. He called the man, who sounded panicked.
“'Our work got screwed up. People got caught,'” he recounted his associate telling him.
Later on, Singh said, the man told him that a family had died.
Women walks past an entrance gate of Dingucha village in Gandhinagar, India, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
FILE - A border marker, between the United States and Canada is shown just outside of Emerson, Manitoba, on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
In an image released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, shows how the migrants who survived the crossing were terribly inadequately dressed. (U.S. Attorney's Office via AP)
In an undated image released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, shows items found in a migrant child’s backpack. (U.S. Attorney's Office via AP)
The Edward J. Devitt U.S. Courthouse and Federal building is seen, where two men on trial face human smuggling charges, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Fergus Falls, Minn. (AP Photo/Michael Goldberg)
FILE - Road signage is posted just outside of Emerson, Manitoba on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)
