LINCOLN — Prince Amukamara remembers looking around and wondering if he was still in Arizona.

A room of people — most dressed in red — watched as Amukamara and four others signed letters of intent to attend a school 1,300 miles away.

“Everyone was wearing Nebraska shirts and Nebraska hats,” Amukamara said. “That's when it kind of hit me. I kind of started thinking, ‘Isn't this rare?'”

Rare, indeed.

In the past decade, Nebraska has signed five or more high school players in the same class from the states of California, Texas, Nebraska — and Arizona.

Arizona joined the group in 2007, when Amukamara, safety Eric Hagg, defensive end Will Yancy and offensive linemen Jaivorio Burkes and Marcel Jones picked NU at the urging of former assistant coach Bill Busch.

Their levels of collegiate success, 2½ years later, vary widely. Amukamara, a cornerback, and Hagg and Jones are in position to play key roles Saturday when the Huskers open at home against Florida Atlantic.

Burkes and Yancy remain in school, according to Assistant Athletic Director Jeff Jamrog, though they're not practicing or active members of the team. Burkes was slowed by a medical condition a year ago and has been ruled out this fall without an explanation from NU officials.

Back in 2007, the Arizona group staged a Peoria, Ariz., signing ceremony in a scene more suited for Omaha than greater Phoenix.

“I guess it is a little nuts when you think about it,” Hagg said.

Nebraska has a sizable fan base in Arizona and a history of getting players from the Grand Canyon State. The list includes such names as Mike Brown, Eric Johnson, Kenny Cheatham, Jon Clanton, Tyrone Byrd, Toby Wright and Brian Davis.

The state remains a fertile recruiting ground, but the Huskers signed only two players from Arizona this decade other than the 2007 group — lineman Richie Incognito and linebacker Nick Covey — and NU has signed none since that haul.

“Whether we get lucky and get five in one year again, who's to say?” recruiting coordinator Ted Gilmore said. “It just so happened the Arizona schools weren't recruiting them. Their loss, our gain. You shouldn't be able to do that.

“If I'm Arizona, Arizona State, I'm going to try to keep everybody out of my backyard.”

So do the NU coaches want more like Hagg, their top nickel back, and Amukamara, their top corner? Both are known among the Huskers for their unusual personalities.

“No, I'm still a little hesitant,” secondary coach Marvin Sanders said, laughing. “From a talent perspective, absolutely.

“But yeah, you're right, if they're like that in Arizona, we'd take them all.”

Jones is set to start at right tackle Saturday.

Signing day 2007 marked their first moment together as teammates, but they knew of each other in high school. Amukamara said Burkes “got like 30 rebounds every time we played” against his Phoenix Moon Valley High team in basketball.

Amukamara even admits to being dunked on by his future teammate. He apparently wasn't the only one.

“He dunked on Eric, too,” Amukamara said.

The friendships grew immediately when they arrived in Lincoln. Jones developed a close bond with Burkes. Hagg and Amukamara were roommates as freshmen. They had something in common that gave them something to talk about: their hometown.

“It definitely helped,” Jones said. “You had people you knew when you were the new guy.”

Hagg and Amukamara survived a messy dorm room and grew closer as they matured into important members of the defensive backfield.

“You know how they say best friends shouldn't live together?” Hagg said. “That's what it was. But Prince and I are probably the closest. Just having him there was such a big help.”

And company made the winters pass more easily.

“I felt more comfortable,” Amukamara said. “It was like you brought your home with you.”

World-Herald staff writer Mitch Sherman contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com

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