Nebraska goes west for top recruits By BRAD FUQUA Courier Reporter Growing up in Arizona, Prince Amukamara envisioned cornfields and farms whenever someone mentioned Nebraska. On Nov. 24, Amukamara made a recruiting trip to Lincoln and experienced Big Red Nation during the Huskers' 37-14 victory over Colorado. Forget cornfields and farms, this state is all about football. The all-state Apollo High School running back is the second Valley prospect in a week and fifth overall to verbally commit to play for Nebraska. Assistant coach Bill Busch focused heavily on the Phoenix area and those efforts are paying off. Joining Amukamara are offensive lineman Jaivorio Burkes of Moon Valley, wide receiver-defensive back Eric Hagg of Ironwood, offensive lineman Marcel Jones of Trevor Browne and defensive end William Yancy of Ironwood. Prescott head coach Lou Beneitone knows Amukamara and Burkes well. Each of those players' teams have competed against PHS in the 4A-I Wells Fargo Region over the past couple of years. Amukamara rushed for 205 yards on 17 carries this past fall against the Badgers. Of course, Prescott had the last laugh with a 28-17 victory. "That kid is one of the most phenomenal ballplayers I've seen in a long time," Beneitone said. "He could do it all Š and he's one of the shiftiest backs. Plus, he's a very nice man when you talk to him personally. Talent-wise, he's one of the top players I've ever coached against." Now, Agua Fria's Everson Griffen may come to mind when mentioning players going up against PHS. Griffen recently committed to play for Southern Cal. The Badgers knocked him out of their playoff game against the Owls in the first quarter. "Compared to Griffen, well, there's no comparison," Beneitone said. "He's big and more of a defensive kid. Amukamara could be a threat anywhere on the field." Maybe quarterback Sam Keller's decision to quit Arizona State and transfer to the Big Red is having an impact. More realistically, this group of Arizona football players wants to play together and impact an NU program that is desperately trying to return to the national spotlight. Amukamara made a visit to Bradshaw Mountain during the Bears' holiday basketball tournament. A multi-talented athlete, he turned heads with his skills on the basketball court. But football is his game. During his senior season, Amukamara scored 32 touchdowns, including 24 on the ground while rushing for 2,106 yards. He also caught 22 balls for 452 yards and six TDs. In his final game a 35-28 OT loss to Chaparral in the 4A-I playoffs he ran for 366 yards and four touchdowns, including a 97-yarder. Amukamara's first choice would've been Arizona State but the Sun Devils showed little interest. So he narrowed his choices to Nebraska and Fresno State and said he will sign with the Huskers on Feb. 1. Burkes (6-foot-4, 310 pounds) was with Amukamara on the Thanksgiving weekend visit to Lincoln. He turned down scholarship offers from ASU, Arizona, Oklahoma, Michigan, Tennessee and others to become a Husker. Rivals.com ranks the Moon Valley guard No. 7 nationally at his position. "He was definitely an imposing threat on that line and was a tough kid," Beneitone said. "He's one of the biggest linemen we went up against." A third player that went along on the Nov. 24 visit to NU was Hagg, a 6-1, 192-pound speedster out of Ironwood who is good friends with Amukamara. Hagg, Jones (6-7, 310) and Yancy (6-4, 223) all chose the Huskers over ASU and Arizona as well as several other Pac-10 schools. A sixth player from Arizona will also join the Huskers. Eastern Arizona College cornerback Armando Murrillo signed a letter of intent last month. Interestingly, Prescott has a little bit of a connection of its own to Nebraska. Former Badger lineman Bobby Snyder last year played for Concordia, an NAIA school in Seward which is only a half-hour drive from Lincoln. Concordia likes Snyder so much that coaches are looking at other PHS athletes. Beneitone is busy this time of the year trying to get his seniors opportunities in college. Scottsdale Community College has already hit the PHS campus hard with looks at Dan Trail, Anthony Guzman, Eric Petroff, Mark Winslow and others. Pima and Mesa are other two-year schools showing interest. And Beneitone is working on getting the word out to Weber State, Adams State and Northern Arizona. Bradshaw Mountain's Chuck Apap reported that Adam Beauchamp has finalized his decision to play for Glendale. Beauchamp sat out last year with a knee injury and helped out as an assistant on the Bears' coaching staff. One of this spring's Bradshaw graduates, Levi Moore, is also looking at Glendale.
Now that I think about it, Mike and Ralph Brown (No relation) came outa Arizona. The were outstanding CB's that were on all 3 NC teams in the '90's. Mike Brown is still a starter for the Chicago Bears. Must be good talent in the Phoenix area? We'll see.....
8) re: Ralph Brown I saw Ralph Brown play in high school against Damien. Brown played for Bishop Amat HS in La Puente. He shocked USC when he committed to Nebraska... - I just saw DE Everson Griffen on TV in the Army All-Star Game and he was the best player in Arizona easily. If he was "knocked out" of a game then it was probably with a sprain. I'm sure that nobody knocked him down... re: Sam Keller to Nebraska ASU fired their head coach over that one and they should have. The Huskers now have a prime-time QB who matches up with anyone...
Oh, I thought they both came outa AZ. My Bad..... BDR told me a little inside story about the Keller thing. If I remember right, Keller's dad had some kind of connection with Callahan while he was at Oakland.