HUSKER FOOTBALL: East’s Coleman Chooses To Stay Home and Commits To Nebraska

LINCOLN–(KFOR Oct. 22)–In front of family, friends, teammates, school officials and members of the media, Malachi Coleman made it official, he’ll be a Husker.

The Lincoln East senior wide-receiver and defensive back on Saturday verbally committed to continue his college career at Nebraska.  Coleman picked up a University of Oregon baseball cap, put it back down and then grabbed an Oklahoma Sooners cap and put in back on the table before he grabbed the Nebraska cap to put it on his head when he made the official announcement.

“I’ve been looking forward to (it) for a while; me and my family, we love it,” Coleman told reporters afterward.

Before the 2021 season, Coleman was relatively unknown and had an impact during his junior season for the Saprtans while helping them reach the Class A playoffs.  Nebraska was the first school made aware of his talents.  Coleman had participated in a few of the Huskers’ summer and Friday Night Lights camps in the summer and showed good athleticism.

As a junior, Coleman scored ten touchdowns on pass receptions, for an average of 33 yards.  Defensively, he had 57 tackles, just over seven sacks and forced four fumbles.

Last spring, Coleman was one of the top sprinters in Nebraska, finishing second in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes at the NSAA State Track Meet.  Attention for him boomed from there.

As many as 25 Division I schools were expressing high interest in Coleman, but narrowed his choices down to seven schools before the 2022 football season started.  Aside from Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oregon, the other four schools included USC, Michigan, Ole Miss and defending national champion Georgia.

Coleman became a top 75 national recruit and when it was all said and done, the relationship he developed with Nebraska’s interim head football coach Mickey Joseph proved to be the deciding factor on where he wanted to go to school.

Plus, it gave him a chance to stay closer to home to his parents and sister.

The road for Malachi Coleman in his young life has been challenging leading up to this point.

Coleman’s father died when he was young, leaving his mother to take care of him and his sister, Nevaeh.  The mother left Malachi and his sister at a stranger’s home and never came back.  At age 6, Coleman and his younger sister were then put into foster care, which had them move from family to family and different cities.

But Craig and Miranda Coleman adopted Malachi and Nevaeh in 2015, which led to a new life and a new way to grow.

“You’ve got to find people that you can trust, and that’s why I surrounding myself with people who are like that, and people who’ve got my back.”

Coleman has been able to give back.  After working out logistics with the Nebraska School Activities Association, he was able to workout an NIL deal with Lincoln restaurant Muchachos and having proceeds going to help kids in the foster care system.

As he cleared the first big hurdle of his senior year at East, Coleman says he will be around during second semester, indicating he has unfinished business in track and field by trying to win gold in the 100 and 200 meter races.  A letterman in basketball as junior, Coleman remains undecided about playing on the hardwood this season.  His size could give the Spartans a boost close to the basket.

Coleman was asked by KFOR Sports about the impact of his Spartan teammates and coaches during the whole recruiting process.

“My teammates and my coaches are my rock,” Coleman added.  “Every single game, they’re in there grinding with me, they keep me humbled, keep me focused.  They make sure that I stay on track.”

As for East competing against No. 2 seed and undefeated Elkhorn South in this coming Friday’s Class A playoff opener, which includes facing his future Nebraska teammate, Maverick Noonan.

“Got to take care of business,” Coleman added.

Rivals.com has Coleman rated No. 57 in the country. He noted he would like to be known more than just a football player.

“I want to be known as a person that gave everything he had, not just on the football field but outside of it,” Coleman concluded.