Charlie Becker went from three-star to the face of Indiana

A yr in the past, Dave Becker would attend Indiana‘s video games, undecided what model of his son, Charlie, he would see afterward.

Charlie Becker was working laborious and gained an elevated function on particular groups. He had impressed coach Curt Cignetti and Indiana’s assistants behind the scenes, validating their choice to retain him from the earlier employees’s recruiting class. But he was additionally caught in a large receiver room with future first-round NFL draft choose Omar Cooper Jr. and the extremely productive Elijah Sarratt, who had starred for Cignetti at each James Madison and IU.

Becker even lived with Fernando Mendoza, the eventual Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 NFL draft choose. But as October rolled alongside, Becker wasn’t on the subject a lot with the offense.

“He was getting a little frustrated,” Dave Becker recalled. “He said, ‘I just want my chance. I want my opportunity to be out there.’ And I just kept telling him, ‘Buddy, just hang in there. It’ll come. I promise you, it’ll happen. You’ll have your shot.'”

The father proved to be proper, and the son capitalized, maybe greater than another school soccer participant in the previous calendar yr. Charlie Becker grew to become Mendoza’s go-to goal throughout the stretch run and all through the postseason.

On this date in 2025, Becker had 4 profession receptions. On May 11, he was standing on the South Lawn at the White House, thanking the president for welcoming the national-champion Hoosiers.

“That was pretty crazy,” Charlie Becker mentioned. “Not gonna lie.”

In 13 video games, protecting two seasons, Becker has gone from function participant, finest often called Mendoza’s housemate/buddy, to one of the frontmen for Indiana, each throughout the nationwide championship run and now the encore season. He has 57 receptions for 1,051 yards and 11 touchdowns throughout the span, and has been one of the prime receivers by means of the first half of the 2026 season, rating fourth nationally in landing catches (8) and tied for twenty second in receiving yards per sport (88.2).

ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid lists the 6-foot-4 Becker as his No. 8 overall prospect and No. 2 receiver behind Ohio State‘s Jeremiah Smith, whose crew visits Indiana on Saturday (noon ET, Fox).

“It’s been fun seeing Charlie be on billboards and be the face of Indiana on things,” Dave Becker mentioned. “You walk into the Indiana airport, and there’s Charlie’s face. It’s a joy, it’s a blessing, it’s hilarious.”

How did all of it occur? Becker had the traits even when recognition got here progressively. He simply wanted an opportunity.

“He’s the hardest-working guy on the team,” Cignetti mentioned.

Will Cignetti need me?

For every week in late 2023, Becker wasn’t certain he would even develop into a Hoosier. In June, he dedicated to Indiana and coach Tom Allen. ESPN rated the Nashville native as the No. 185 broad receiver and No. 45 prospect from Tennessee.

Five months after Becker’s pledge, Indiana fired Allen and employed Cignetti, leaving all the recruits in limbo.

“I was like, ‘Uh-oh, am I still going to have a spot? Am I going to have to go through this whole recruiting process again, in less than a month?'” Becker recalled.

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Indiana’s Charlie Becker makes an incredible sideline seize on 4th-and-5

He instantly despatched a message on X to offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who was following Cignetti from James Madison to IU, congratulating him and providing to get on the telephone. Shanahan texted again straight away.

Cignetti evaluated all the dedicated recruits and did not hold all of them. Becker had been restricted by harm as a highschool senior, however Cignetti appreciated his junior-year movie, and the reality Becker had received a number of state titles in monitor.

Plus, Dave Becker had performed soccer for Ohio State and hung out in professional baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays group. Charlie’s brother Cole performed linebacker at App State.

“He had athletic bloodlines,” Cignetti mentioned of Charlie Becker. “We thought he was a guy that could develop.”

The green light from Cignetti introduced reduction and validation to Becker, whose recruitment did not match the participant he would develop into. He attended highschool at Father Ryan in Nashville, which performs different notable non-public faculties akin to Brentwood Academy, Lipscomb Academy and Baylor (the place Peyton Manning’s son at the moment performs).

Becker, who was 6-foot-3 by his junior yr, excelled in monitor, profitable state titles as a junior in the 110-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and the 400-meter relay, whereas long-jumping practically 22 ft and high-jumping 6 ft. If Becker had been absolutely wholesome as a senior, Father Ryan monitor coach Doug Jones thinks he would have run the 110-meter hurdles in lower than 14 seconds. Brian Rector, the soccer coach at Father Ryan when Becker performed, mentioned Becker ran a 4.4 in the 40-yard sprint for many of highschool, however Rector clocked him just a few occasions underneath 4.3.

“When you find a football player who has that athleticism to high jump or long jump … that’s a different type, and Charlie had all that,” Jones mentioned. “When he gets on a game field or on a track, he wants to win no matter what. Even the basketball coach here said he’s the only person in the school who could probably walk onto the court and help us.”

But he obtained solely 4 Power 4 presents in addition to Indiana — Northwestern, Iowa, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt — in addition to Group of 6 inquiries from App State and others. Tennessee stayed away. So did Ohio State, the crew Becker and his household rooted for.

“I’ve never seen a more undervalued and overlooked recruit in my entire 30 years of coaching, it’s not even close,” Rector mentioned. “I don’t think it’s sad. I think it’s awesome, because look what happened. But at the time, was I a little perturbed? You betcha.

“I used to be fairly dadgum perturbed.”

Cole Becker agreed with Rector. His own recruitment had been different, but he knew how top prospects looked — skill-wise and with their understanding of the game — and saw those qualities in Charlie, who was “all the time just a bit bit twitchier, a bit of bit sooner.”

Asked about Charlie’s recruitment, Dave Becker called it “a great query, a deep query, an fascinating query,” but declined to say more.

“I do not suppose essentially that I used to be ever asking, ‘Where are all the faculties? Where are my presents?'” Charlie Becker said. “I do not suppose I used to be ever pissed off. I used to be all the time simply blessed to have the alternative.”

‘We have a competitive family’

Charlie is the middle child in the Becker household, about a year younger than Cole and a year older than his sister, Gracyn. All three became Division I athletes. (Gracyn played soccer at Miami University last year.) Guided by two athletically inclined parents in Dave and mom Tracy, an avid CrossFitter, their fires ran hot.

“When individuals say, ‘I’ve a aggressive household,’ I’m like, ‘No, you do not. We have a aggressive household,” Cole Becker said. “Every single factor is a contest in our home, from puzzles to cleansing our rooms.”

The competitions extended outside the home. On a trip to Disney World, Tracy needed to occupy the kids — aged 8 to 10 at the time — while waiting in lines for rides, so she had them do air squats, with the one who lasted longest getting ice cream.

“We’d be screaming at one another if we’re not in good alignment,” Charlie said. “It was a lot enjoyable.”

When Charlie started playing football, he expected to be a linebacker like his dad and Cole, who had similar body types. But then Charlie started growing more vertically than horizontally. Dave, who coached the boys in middle school, always had Charlie play with older kids, and recognized his younger son was a natural receiver.

“He was all the time catching balls, regardless of the place they had been — aggressive, loopy, twerking of the physique, excessive balls,” Dave Becker said. “At that time, I used to be like, ‘If Charlie stays wholesome and continues to develop and work laborious, he may need an opportunity.'”

Becker spent his freshman season at IU almost exclusively on special teams, logging 123 snaps on three units. He had a 3-yard rushing touchdown but did not record a catch. Becker had a 4-yard reception in the 2025 opener against Old Dominion and his first touchdown grab the following week, but didn’t catch a pass in Indiana’s first four Big Ten games.

His opportunity came, as is often the case, because of a teammate’s injury. Sarratt hurt his hamstring against Maryland and Becker had a 52-yard touchdown. He then produced consecutive 100-yard receiving games, featuring catches of 48 and 53 yards.

“From that time on, he was a starter,” Cignetti said. “Sarratt was nonetheless damage, and [Becker] was a man that, all of a sudden, you had to get him the ball. That man can actually get vertical, get behind individuals, and make contested catches.”

Wanting to be a Buckeye, but finding a home

Indiana completed the regular season at 12-0 and reached the Big Ten championship, where it would face Ohio State in a No. 1 vs. 2 matchup. Becker had appeared in Indiana’s loss at Ohio Stadium in 2024, but only on special teams. The title game would be different for him and his family.

The Beckers were Buckeyes, living in SEC country. Dave painted Ohio State’s iconic helmet stripes around Cole and Charlie’s bedroom, which contained Ezekiel Elliott decals and Ohio State-themed sheets and blankets. They attended the first College Football Playoff national title game, where Ohio State beat Oregon, and were season-ticket holders for Ohio State games.

“… We had been die-hard,” Charlie said. “We had Ohio State posters up. You identify it, we had it. Every Saturday, we would be sitting down, watching Ohio State play ball, kicking all people’s butts. That was a dream: to play for them or play in opposition to them.”

The latter came Dec. 6 in Indianapolis. When Dave attended Ohio State, Indiana was a lower-tier Big Ten team, and even though the program had risen under Cignetti, he saw the matchup as “David versus Goliath-like.” But that night, Indiana felled the giant, as Charlie led the team in receptions (6) and receiving yards (126).

His leaping 33-yard catch on third-and-6 helped the Hoosiers nearly run out the clock.

“A dream come true to be put in that place,” he said. “It was surreal.”

He averaged 20.5 yards per catch throughout the CFP with two touchdowns. In the nationwide championship in opposition to Miami, Becker had a 19-yard catch on fourth-and-5 that arrange Mendoza’s iconic fourth-down touchdown run, and later had one other 19-yard reception on third-and-7 that arrange Indiana’s last subject aim.

At Indiana’s White House go to in May, Becker was tabbed to converse on behalf of the crew. Cignetti appreciated the means he introduced on digicam.

“You’ve seen Charlie go from somebody that wasn’t necessarily in the limelight, and never was a kid that begged for the limelight, to somebody that has stepped up in his role,” Dave Becker mentioned. “Really proud of him.”

‘He’s an actual risk now’

Charlie Becker’s large end made him a face of Indiana’s championship run, however the 2025 Hoosiers had been nonetheless Mendoza’s crew, a designation Becker wouldn’t dispute. He had bonded rapidly with each Fernando and his youthful brother Alberto, who met Becker after they had been unpacking their issues after arriving at IU in 2024.

The Mendozas and Becker had related backgrounds, rooted in religion and laborious work. Last yr, Becker shared an off-campus home with Fernando, Alberto and two different teammates.

“Those guys are like my family now,” Becker mentioned. “I love them so much. I’m so grateful they were put in my life.”

Both Mendozas departed after the championship run, Fernando to the NFL and Alberto to Georgia Tech. Becker was a leftover chief for IU, a task he immediately embraced.

He did not know his new quarterback, TCU switch Josh Hoover, however related with him throughout the CFP run. When Hoover got here to campus, Becker met him at Convenient Food Mart, a well-liked grab-and-go spot with the “best breakfast food,” Becker mentioned. The two hit it off.

“With him coming in, I was looking forward to starting it all over again,” Becker mentioned. “He’s a friend that I could see being close with for the rest of my life.”

Cignetti has seen no letup in Becker after his breakout in 2025; simply the reverse, in truth. Becker, who this spring known as Fernando Mendoza “the hardest worker I’ve ever encountered,” tried to emulate his good friend, engaged on each ingredient of his sport.

“He’s really committed, he does everything right,” Cignetti mentioned. “He’s always around here at night, him and Josh and a couple of the other guys, watching tape and preparing. It’s just important to him.”

The preparation translated to video games. Becker has three or extra receptions in Indiana’s first six video games, three multi-touchdown performances, a reception of 35 yards or longer in all however one contest and a minimum of 13.4 yards per reception in each. And no dropped passes.

He’s already 4 receptions shy of matching his season complete from 2025.

“He’s a long guy that has gotten a lot stronger and can get vertical, has made all the contested catches,” Cignetti mentioned. “He’s a real threat now. A premier player.”

Thirteen video games have modified all the pieces for him. When Ohio State visits Saturday for a top-five matchup, Becker’s identify will likely be proper there with Smith’s, at the prime of the marquee.

“God has done so many amazing things in my life, and I’m forever grateful, just for the opportunities,” he mentioned. “But at the end of the day, we’re still working and never satisfied.”