Running back Mekhi Nelson commits to Nebraska football

Mekhi Nelson, a 6-foot, 190-pound athlete from St. Thomas More Academy in Connecticut, first heard from Barthel when the coach worked for UConn. Back then, Nelson still played in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Barthel took the job at NU. Nelson traveled up to STM, where one former Husker (Alante Brown) and current Husker (Marques Buford) plied their trade. The two talked on the phone, Nelson said, three times a week.

“He kept watching me, he kept telling me, ‘keep grinding, you’re my guy,’ and then, eventually all the pieces fell into place,” Nelson said before he announced his commitment to NU. “I love everything about him. I see him as an uncle.”

And the Huskers see Nelson — a three-star prospect according to 247 Sports and unrated elsewhere — as a versatile recruit. He could be a running back. He could play wideout. He could play defense.

“They see me as a Jack-Of-All-Trades,” Nelson said. “They could put me on either side of the ball at any skill position and know that I’m going to go out there and make a play. I prefer running back or a little bit of a slot receiver — I mainly like playing offense, I’ll say — but they’d look at me on defense. Punt returner, all that.”

Nelson said he had a good year at STM after spending several seasons at Wilkes-Barre High School. In 2022, Nelson rushed for 1,670 yards and 22 touchdowns for Wilkes-Barre, adding 17 catches for 341 yards and three touchdowns. In 2023, he headed up to Oakdale, Connecticut, the town nearest St. Thomas More, which sits on a forest-laden property overlooking Gardner Lake.

“I’m used to going to school with 3,000 other kids, so, going to STM and there only being about 150 kids total, it was definitely a different environment,” Nelson said. “There’s not really anything to do because you can’t have a car on campus. You’re literally there all day, every day, perfecting your craft.”

For much of 2023, Nelson’s best offer came from UConn. On May 8, Barthel extended one from Nebraska. Nelson made a preliminary, unofficial visit on his own dime June 6-7. He then returned on June 14 for an official visit.

“The new weight room was beautiful,” Nelson said. “The facilities were definitely something I’ve never seen before at any other school.”

But the biggest draw, for Nelson, is the coach he now regards like family. Barthel.

“He puts his players first, he loves his kids he coaches,” Nelson said. “He loves to build strong bonds with the kids he coaches.”