'Why Shouldn't We Be in That Position?': Cignetti, Indiana Host Big Recruiting Weekend With No. 1 QB Julian Lewis

The Indiana football program hosted 13 official visitors in the class of 2025 over the weekend, headlined by No. 1 ranked recruit Julian Lewis.

Top-ranked quarterback Julian Lewis pictured on official visit to Indiana. / @JuJuLewis10 on X

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football has wrapped up a big weekend of official visits from recruits in the class of 2025.

The biggest name on campus was quarterback Julian Lewis, who's ranked as the No. 1 overall player by ESPN and Rivals. Lewis is verbally committed to USC, but he has a longstanding relationship with Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri. He's also scheduled to visit USC, Auburn and Colorado over the next month.

The Hoosiers' new head coach Curt Cignetti said during his introductory press conference that his biggest challenge is changing the way people think about Indiana football. That will ultimately require wins on the field, but hosting a visit for a five-star recruit like Lewis at minimum shows the program is viewed in a more positive light than past years. Recruits of Lewis' caliber have rarely, if ever, visited Indiana.

During last week's fundraising event at Huber's Orchard and Winery, Cignetti was asked how he's been able to put Indiana in a position to contend with programs annually in the top 25 for these kinds of recruits.

“Why shouldn’t we be in that position?" Cignetti said. "We’re a state school, and the Big Ten and SEC are calling all the shots in college football. With the proper commitment, any team really in the Big Ten, especially that has a state name, can be successful."

"People look at our track record and what we’ve done in the past. We’ve got some strong recruiting ties out there, but you still gotta get ‘em. It doesn’t count when they just visit, you gotta get ‘em.”

Along with Lewis, Indiana hosted 13 official visits over the weekend. It landed a commitment from three-star cornerback Jaylen Bell out of Loganville, Ga., who also had offers from Georgia, Florida State, LSU, Colorado and several other high-major programs.

Other visitors included Justin Bell, Jhrevious Hall, Israel Oladipupo, Sean Cuono, Kobby Sakyi-Prah, Antonio Carter Jr. and Michael O'Connell, four of which are ranked within the top 1,000 of the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Indiana already had verbal commitments from Garrett Reese, Byron Baldwin, Chris McCorkle and Evan Parker, but they were on campus for official visits, too.

For a full list of commitments in Indiana's 2025 recruiting class, CLICK HERE.