Huskers pick up 29th recruit

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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska won a neck-and-neck football recruiting battle with Fresno State for a standout athlete from suburban Phoenix.

Prince Amukamara, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound player at Apollo High School in Glendale, Ariz., said Friday he chose the Huskers because of the positive vibe he felt during his late-November recruiting visit to Lincoln.

He becomes the fifth high school player from the Phoenix area to orally pledge to Nebraska’s 2007 recruiting class.

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“I felt a comfort level there immediately, like right when I checked into the hotel and when I was around the players,” Amukamara said. “I could see myself spending the next four or five years at Nebraska.”

Amukamara is ranked as a three-star player (on a five-star scale) by both Scout.com and Rivals.com. He recently was honored as the state’s high school player of the year by the Arizona Republic newspaper.

He also received scholarship offers from Colorado, Oregon State, Nevada and Texas-El Paso.

A point guard for Apollo’s basketball team, Amukamara said Nebraska recruited him to play wide receiver, running back or defensive back. He said he prefers offense.

Over the last two seasons, Amukamara has scored nearly 50 touchdowns and rushed for 3,389 yards, averaging 11.9 per carry. He also racked up 664 receiving yards and 125 tackles during that span. This season, he helped lead Apollo to a 7-4 record.

“People say I have explosiveness and good field awareness, and also good cut-back ability,” he said.

Nebraska safeties coach Bill Busch played the lead role in Amukamara’s recruitment.

Romanus Amukamara, the player’s father, once attended Southeast Community College in Beatrice. The father is now a middle-school math teacher.

In addition to the five high school players from Arizona, Nebraska also has received a signed letter of intent from four-star cornerback Armando Murillo of Eastern Arizona Community College in Thatcher.

Amukamara becomes the 29th recruit known to have pledged to Nebraska’s class of 2007, ranked No. 8 nationally by Rivals.com.