Bowling Green-bound Nakai Amachree ready to help Haslett football thrive
HASLETT — The first time the ball found the hands of Nakai Amachree last season, he used his speed, vision and elusiveness to return the opening kickoff back for a touchdown on the turf field at the Big House.
For good measure, the Haslett running back followed it up later in that game at Michigan Stadium by returning a punt for a touchdown against DeWitt.
Even though it came in a tight loss, the day was memorable for Amachree. And it was part of a big junior season that helped him emerge as one of the state's top college prospects in the 2024 class.
Now Amachree is getting set to write his final chapter at Haslett. And he's doing it with his future already secure after verbally committing to play at Bowling Green last month — just over a week before the start of official practices.
"I think it's a great fit for him," Haslett coach Brad Thomas said. "The style of play in that conference is pretty wide open. They like to score a lot of points and that's what Nakai is really good at is scoring a lot of points.
"They play a high level of football. They go around and they play a lot of the Big Ten schools and SEC schools. I think that he's ready for that level of play. I think he's put himself in that position. Very few guys work as hard as he does."
Amachree, who ran for 919 yards and 14 touchdowns and also had two receiving TDs and three punt returns for scores last fall, attracted plenty of recruiting interest. He received offers from Stanford, Minnesota and Navy, other Mid-American Conference programs like Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Kent State and Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
"I'm definitely blessed for the opportunity to be put in this situation, first of all," said Amachree, who is regarded as a three-star prospect by 247Sports. "That's what I worked for since I was a kid to be honest. I always wanted to play D-I football.
"I remember watching Tavon Austin and his highlights and I was like, all right, I'm going to try to do that. I've been working every day for this. It's definitely, definitely fun. Just talking to all these coaches and just new experiences and all that stuff — I couldn't be more thankful."
But Bowling Green had plenty of appeal for Amachree, who is set to follow in the footsteps of his older sister Kaema and play at the Division I level. Kaema is currently playing soccer at the University of Toledo, which is roughly 25 miles away from the Bowling Green campus.
"That definitely played a part in my decision because I'm really close with my sister," Amachree said. "Being able to have her 20 to 25 minutes down the road means a lot to me."
Bowling Green was also one of the earlier offers for Amachree, who said the program recruited him heavily and was excited when he made his decision.
But before he gets to college, Amachree hopes to have more memorable performances like he delivered against DeWitt at the Big House. He and younger brother, Kory, are among the key pieces Haslett is leaning on as it looks to challenge in the CAAC Red and make noise in the Division 4 playoffs.
From what Thomas has seen, Amachree is ready to make the most of his final season and help the Vikings find success.
"He's worked his tail off," Thomas said. "He's done everything that has been asked of him here and then above and beyond that working on his own. He spends a ton of time in the gym working on his strength, speed, all that stuff. Every time he comes to the football field (he's) working his tail off here. I'm just super proud of him for all that work."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: High school football: Nakai Amachree chasing strong ending for Haslett
