Curt Cignetti has already changed the conversation around Indiana football. Landing Monshun Sales would take it to another level.
For a program that has spent decades getting overlooked in the race for elite high school talent, Indiana is suddenly in position to make a move that once felt out of reach. The Hoosiers have never signed a 5-star high school recruit in program history, but that could change this summer with Sales in play.
Indiana has already picked up six blue chip recruits in the 2027 cycle, and more additions could be coming soon. Sales would be the headliner.
According to Rivals, the wide receiver is the No. 1 player at his position and the No. 8 overall prospect in the country for 2027. He is one of only four uncommitted 5-star recruits left in the class.
His finalist list includes Indiana, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, and LSU. Sales has already taken official visits to each of those schools this spring, and he is now weighing his decision.
Where will they land?👀 https://t.co/AGvJuKsBLX pic.twitter.com/vdfE2zYPaW
- Rivals (@Rivals) July 3, 2026
Cignetti’s rise in Bloomington has put Indiana in a spot it rarely occupied before. Prospects with Sales’ profile used to be long shots for the Hoosiers. Now they are very much in the mix.
That shift has been built on results. Cignetti took over a program that had the most losses in college football history and went 27-2 over his first two seasons at Indiana. He also led the Hoosiers to their first-ever football National Championship this past season.
Adding Sales would be another loud message from Bloomington. It would show Indiana can line up against the traditional powers and win on the recruiting trail, too. That kind of breakthrough would carry real weight, especially with the momentum from last year’s title still fresh.
There’s also a practical payoff right away. Indiana’s 2027 class is currently ranked No. 29 by Rivals, and a commitment from Sales could be the difference between staying there and pushing into the Top 25.
In Other News...
Indiana Just Missed On A Priority Running Back Recruit
Indiana had been in the mix for one of the more sought-after running backs in the 2027 class, but the latest turn on the trail leaves the Hoosiers still searching for a boost at the position. Elijah Kimble, a four-star back from New York who entered the cycle as the states top player and one of the nations top-ranked runners, had drawn serious attention from a finalist group that also included Ohio State and North Carolina.
For Indiana, the miss matters because the 2027 class still includes only one running back, 3-star Da'Jon Talley-Rhodes, and the Hoosiers remain at No. 29 in the Rivals Recruiting Rankings. Kimbles decision also comes after he spent a weekend in Bloomington in April, a sign Indiana was at least firmly in the conversation before the race narrowed and the Hoosiers were left looking to the next target. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Needs Tobi Osunsanmi To Be A True Difference Maker
As Indiana looks ahead to 2026 after its first national championship, one of the more intriguing defensive pieces is Tobi Osunsanmi, the redshirt senior EDGE who has been building toward a bigger role. At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, he brings the kind of speed and burst that can change a game off the edge, and his move from linebacker to defensive end in 2023 has helped shape him into a pass-rush specialist the Hoosiers can lean on.
What makes Osunsanmi so important is the ceiling that comes with that skill set. A Kansas State beat writer who studied him up close saw a player with Sunday-level potential, but also one who still has work to do when offenses come right at him, especially against the run and through heavy blocking looks. Indiana does not need him to be perfect, but it does need him to keep turning pressure into disruption if the defense is going to stay at a championship level. [Read more 🡒]
