“Man Hits Me Up:” Deion Sanders and Cormani McClain Rift Takes New Turn With Unbiased Apology From Coach Prime’s ‘Speaking Piece’

Does DJ Blessone, aka IsmokeHiphop, have a bias toward Deion Sanders? Yes, he admitted it, loud and clear. It is evidently clear not just when he went after Buffs’ former cornerback Cormani McClain, who after being Sanders’s highest-ranked signee, entered the transfer portal on April 6. Throwing shades at Coach Prime, Cormani went as far as saying this: “I feel like I just don’t want to play for clicks.” This time, DJ practically announced, “Y’all know I’m biased towards Deion,” but with a change of heart.  

But it now looks like IsmokeHiphop has taken accountability for his previous hard-hitting comments and has come up with a retake on the ex-Buffs’ character. He made a public apology on his YouTube channel, “I think I am wrong based on a lot of things about his character. I don’t feel wrong as far as him saying the clicks and views. I stand on that. He’s seen the things I stood on when I told him on that video. 

I’ll tell you why I am wrong about the dude. The dude could have come in the DMs with animosity, cuss me out, say a lot of things. And I still would’s respected it. He’s a man; I’m a man. And like I keep telling people who’s calling him a kid, Cormani is a man,” IsmokeHiphop said.

He further embellished his point, “I’m saying that with respect. Let me tell you why he’s a man. The man didn’t come at me in no type of disrespect at all, ladies and gentlemen. He reached out, and was asking me, ‘Bro who told you about me?’ That means he is listening bro.”

The host confessed, “Some of these characters things I did not know until I spoke to the young man. He’s very sharp in the mind much salute to his mother… his mom did raise a fine young man bro because a lot of dudes who are much older than Cormani have sent me death threats.”

The apology came after over a month when IsmokeHiphop chose to expose the five-star recruit and his mother, Kaishay, for portraying things positively even when McClain was believed to have no teams backing him up. IsmokeHiphop’s wrath came as a response to national college football reporter for ESPN.com, Adam Rittenberg, who posted an update on X claiming McClain was taking it slow since he had the privilege of having multiple programs showing an interest in him. He voiced his opinion when he said, “Let’s talk truth right now.

“You don’t have a selected team that you have preference over. You lost that privilege to be the one selecting.” 

But Deion Sanders’ “speaking piece” had once tried to take a stand for McClain after his exit on an unrelated matter. Wondering how IsmokeHiphop was the first one to melt the ice between the two?

IsmokeHiphop spills the facts to guard McClain’s reputation 

On May 25, a video went viral that allegedly showed some former and current Buffaloes players enjoying their time at the Champions Center. The players were allegedly engaged in gambling. Among the players caught on the clip, one of them appeared to be McClain, who was seen beside another player shooting dice. The ex-Buffs star is seen wearing a gray jersey, and thus, it was aligned with his time at Colorado to malign him. But IsmokeHiphop chose to stand out of the crowd.

Instead of demeaning McClain on the grounds of no concrete proof, he said, “So they’re right there just trying to find any reasons to pin anything on Deion Sanders. I don’t even like what Cormani did against Deion Sanders but I will defend him in the same aspects as saying that why would you try to ruin that man career?” He further spotted the difference in the timelines, urging correction, “Let’s get these facts corrected. You see a video circling around there that popped out of nowhere that’s referencing 2013. We’re in 2024.”  

Cormani McClain doesn’t seem to care that his time with the Colorado Buffaloes ended bitterly. Instead, he committed to the Florida Gators on May 15. However, it would be heartening for him to know that at least someone’s perspective of him has changed.