Indiana kept fighting for class of 2025 four-star defensive back Byron Baldwin, and it has paid off for the Hoosiers, as Baldwin announced his recommitment to IU on Friday night.
"I knew it just wasn't a place that I could really leave," Baldwin told Rivals.com about his decision to recommit to Indiana.
Baldwin is currently ranked as the No. 32 cornerback in the 2025 class, and the No. 9 prospect in the state of Maryland, but he will play primarily safety at the college level.
The standout safety out of Saint Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) originally committed to Indiana in April. However, he backed off of his pledge from the Hoosiers in early October. At the time, he told Rivals that he would still consider IU, but other schools were in the mix.
After impressive showings during offseason events and a strong senior campaign, the interest in Baldwin from other programs was heavy. He received offers from Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Penn State, Virginia Tech and UCLA in the months of September and October. Alabama was also in contact with him.
He took an official visit to Colorado during the weekend of Sept. 20, less than two weeks before reopening his recruitment on Oct. 2, which led to speculation that the Buffaloes could be a serious contender for Baldwin.
However, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Bryant Haines, safeties/defensive backs coach Ola Adams, cornerbacks coach Rod Ojong, quality control coach Eddie Burk Jr. and the rest of the staff were able to lock Baldwin back into their 2025 recruiting class.
Baldwin will sign with Indiana in December and enroll in January.
It was Adams, Ojong and Burk who remained in constant communication with Baldwin. Their loyalty to him and the fact that he felt like nothing changed in his relationships with the coaches even after his decommitment was a big reason why Baldwin reaffirmed with the Hoosiers.
"My relationship with (the IU coaches), it's great," Baldwin said. "When I decommitted, that's not really a traditional thing, so (Coach Cignetti) was a little bit disappointed in me — just a little bit. But Coach Ola (Adams), Coach Ojong, Coach Eddie (Burk), we all kept in contact, and they said they were gonna get me back. They just kept it rolling. They kept recruiting me hard."
Baldwin took his official visit with the Hoosiers during the weekend of May 31 through June 2. He returned to Bloomington for two game-day visits this fall: most recently on Nov. 9 for Indiana's 20-15 win over Michigan, and for IU's dominant 56-7 victory over Nebraska on Oct. 19.
After he was able to take a trip to Boulder to see what the Buffaloes had to offer, Baldwin knew he wanted to get back to Indiana to make sure he was checking all of his boxes before making any decisions.
Getting a chance to reconnect with the Indiana commits he grew close with throughout his recruitment helped drive home the feeling that Baldwin still wanted to be a Hoosier.
"Once I got on campus at Colorado, I had to take another visit to Indiana," Baldwin explained. "I (wanted to connect) with the (IU) commits. While I was committed, I was recruiting for our class, so to be able to talk to them, to rekindle with them again through the phone before I came for my (fall) visit, it was just like, 'Dang, this is like family.' Then to go on the visit, and still feel the exact (same way) I did when I came for my official visit and (first) unofficial visit, I knew (this is where I wanted to be)."
While Baldwin was committed the first time, he took pride in promoting the program and helping Indiana recruit. During his recent unofficial visits, he got a chance to do that again, and he was able to spend quality time some of IU's other 2025 commits, including three-star wide receiver Davion Chandler, three-star defensive end Keishaun Calhoun, three-star athlete Seaonta Stewart Jr. and others.
"Before the game, I got to go around campus and talk to some of the fans," Baldwin said about his most recent visit. "I got to watch the walk that (the team) does before the game. And I spent a lot of time with the (Indiana) commits ... it was a lot of them, it was pretty much half of the commits there.
Baldwin received well over 20 scholarship offers throughout his recruitment. In addition to the schools already mentioned, he had offers from Boston College, Connecticut, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Wisconsin and others.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Baldwin is a versatile defensive back. As mentioned, Baldwin will primarily play safety at the college level, but the Hoosiers will be able to move him around in the secondary. Baldwin is athletic and physical, and he is comfortable in both man and zone coverage.
"I'm just an all-around ball player," Baldwin explained. "I can really play every position in the (secondary) — I can play every safety position, or I can go to corner. I can tackle. I'm a technician when it comes to coverage. I understand zone (coverage)."
Indiana is off to a 10-0 start in the 2024, which is the first time IU has accomplished that as a program. Baldwin knows the future is bright for the Hoosiers under Cignetti.
He is also looking forward to going to college in a new state that isn't in close proximity to his home in Maryland. Baldwin wants to find himself and grow as a person during his time in Indiana.
With Baldwin rejoining the group, Indiana's 2025 recruiting class now includes 21 total commits and ranks in the top-40 nationally. Baldwin is the highest-ranked commit in the class and the only four-star prospect currently committed to the Hoosiers.
