With the largest secondary class in modern program history for Nebraska football, it was fascinating to watch the board fluctuate throughout the recruiting cycle.
Some longtime priority targets like Caleb Benning were given carte blanche to go through their recruitments knowing their spot would be there for them. Some, like Donovan Jones, were camp finds that had expiration dates on their offers, depending on other players on their board. Some, like one-time commit Callen Barta, were essentially processed when others became available.
One player who had long been considered a strong Husker lean took his recruitment all the way through to the early signing period. Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Prep standout Amare Sanders was someone coaches had always been high on and was allowed to go deep into the cycle and maintain his spot.
Sanders came on Nebraska’s radar in the spring. Defensive backs coach Evan Cooper was in the Miami area during the evaluation period and stopped by Gulliver Prep, whose coach Earl Sims has a relationship with Cooper.
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Cooper talked with Sims and after watching Sanders work out, offered him a scholarship on May 11, and made him an immediate priority.
The 6-1, 175-pound Sanders is a three-sport athlete whose older brother, Tony Jr., plays basketball at Notre Dame. Sanders excelled in both basketball and football growing up, but put away his cleats when he started high school, thinking that his future was also on the hardwood.
He focused solely on basketball his first two years at Gulliver Prep, but decided to return to the gridiron as he finished his sophomore academic year. Despite not playing the sport for almost three years at an organized level, Sanders picked up where he left off as a youth. After his school’s spring game in May 2022, before actually playing a high school game, he picked up an offer from Louisville.
Despite playing primarily on offense growing up and having never played cornerback in his life, Sanders flashed in a big way during his first high school football season, finishing his junior campaign with 49 tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions in just eight games.
With only one season of film to his name, Sanders showed enough promise to accumulate over 30 scholarship offers, with Power Five tenders coming from Auburn, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon State, Syracuse, UCF, Virginia, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
Nebraska was able to get Sanders on campus for an official visit June 2-4. Amare and his family were blown away by the whole experience. He loved the family culture and the vision the coaches had for building the program back. He also really bonded with Evan Cooper and head coach Matt Rhule during the weekend.
The defensive coaches did a great job of explaining how they planned to use him in their system. They painted a perfect picture for how they saw him fitting in their secondary. Sanders left wanting to continue building the relationship while he went through his recruiting process.
He also spent a lot of time on the visit hanging out with Huskers players like Corey Collier, Malcolm Hartzog, Syncere Safeeullah and Dwight Bootle II. Sanders also connected with several Husker targets who were visiting that weekend. He left Lincoln and stayed in consistent contact with Mario Buford and others who ended up part of the class.
Sanders had initially planned on taking other visits during June. He talked of wanting to check out Florida, Florida State, Illinois, West Virginia and Duke. He was going to commit before his senior season, but still take visits and not completely shut down his recruitment.
In the end, though, he only took an unofficial visit to Florida on June 14, before deciding to cancel visit plans and shut things down for the summer so that he could get back to his training and get ready for his senior season without any disruptions.
Nebraska felt good about where it stood with Amare coming out of his visit and although his recruitment went silent publicly, the staff never took their foot off the gas and kept in regular contact, even as spots filled up in the secondary.
Sanders enjoyed a strong senior season. In 10 games, he finished with 54 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble, while also seeing time on offense as a receiver and running back – where his 17 combined touches produced 163 yards and two touchdowns.
He took an official visit to Virginia on Nov. 3-5, and publicly announced a top five on Dec. 1 of Nebraska, Virginia, Miami, Louisville and Duke. He had also seriously considered Florida State and Oregon State in the weeks prior.
Sanders announced his commitment and signed with Nebraska on Dec. 20 during the early signing period, ultimately choosing the Huskers over Virginia.
Sanders is an intriguing player with huge long-term upside. His size, length, speed and overall athleticism represent the sort of potential these coaches love to target on the recruiting trail. As a staff that prides itself on development, Sanders is an ideal addition to the secondary.
Despite a slender frame, he isn’t afraid to stick his nose in run support. He’s a long-strider who eats up space quickly in pursuit and when closing on passes. He has the frame and skill set that could allow him to move out to free safety, but I would keep him at corner and build him there.
Sanders will arrive in Lincoln in May. After his basketball season ends, he plans to work on his football technique and participate in one more track season. In his first year participating in the sport as a junior, Sanders set school records in both the 100 meters (11.10 seconds) and 200 meters (22.90 seconds). He plans to run the 100, 200 and be part of the 4×100 relay team this season.
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