Last night, Colorado Springs native (Palmer Ridge High School) and three-star 2021 ATH Kaden Dudley announced a verbal commitment to the University of Colorado, the Buffs' first such pledge for the Class of 2021.

His commitment makes CU the fifth Pac-12 Conference team with a 2021 pledge, joining Washington, ASU, Oregon and Southern Cal. Dudley's commitment lends further credence that recruits, namely younger ones, are buying into head coach Mel Tucker's vision for CU football.

Arizona State has the backing of a charismatic head coach in Herm Edwards, who's created an atmosphere of stability and capability in Tempe having led the Sun Devils to a bowl appearance in his first year and is one more win away from doing the same in 2019.

Washington and Oregon have top-notch facilities and together have consistently competed well in if not dominated the Pac-12 North for the better part of a decade.

USC is well, USC. The prestige of Southern California football will always be a magnet for recruiting and the Trojans with one more victory will match their 2018 total.

The point here is that Colorado is the only team in this bunch that lacks current or recent on-field success.

The Buffs under Tucker have beat two ranked opponents, one being the program's most historically despised rival at home and in comeback fashion and the other, ASU, coming on the road and against a team that's played well against the three ranked opponents its played thus far in 2019.

But have back-to-back blowout losses suffered by the Buffs in which not much on both sides of the ball has gone right threaten to overshadow those cited successes? The validity of answering yes to that question is complex.

At the end of the day, such losses don't exactly look good — on paper, to the fans, to recruits — however you want to spin it.

But ultimately, Dudley's commitment to Colorado represents the larger scheme of things in that despite adversity on the gridiron and a mixture of impressive wins with stinging defeats, Tucker and his staff are still effectively selling the future of the program.

And they're starting with the in-state guys and working their way out.

Including Dudley, Colorado has offered eight in-state recruits in the 2021 class and four from the Class of 2022. Colorado under Tucker is approaching in-state recruiting a lot more heads-on than in years past.

The Buffs were the first to offer Dudley back in February and that theme — getting on the radar of younger in-state recruits early, staying on them and ultimately offering them on CU's own terms, not based on outside influence or their current offer list — that's what is truly setting Tucker apart from his predecessor.

Buffs fans have long witnessed what Carson Lee, the first commit for the Class of 2020, has been capable of in terms broadcasting his belief in Tucker and the program at CU to other recruits, close and far away.

It will be interesting to see how Dudley handles his role as the first commit for his class. If anything, his early commitment should highlight the relationship Tucker and Darrin Chiaverini were able to build with him this year combined with the faith he has in the program.

Wins and losses in 2019 aside, Tucker is showing that he's going to effectively recruit through the thick and thin to get this program back on track.