Amukamara was Multi-sport Star at Apollo High School in Arizona

Few résumés rival Prince Amukamara’s time as a student-athlete at Apollo High School in Glendale, Arizona. From 2004 to 2007, Amukamara was a dominant two-way player in football, the starting point guard on three state championship basketball teams, and an elite sprinter and high jumper in track and field.

While he went on to play cornerback in college and for nine seasons in the NFL, Amukamara made a name for himself as a running back in high school while also playing safety.

As a senior at Apollo, he rushed for 2,106 yards and scored 24 touchdowns, while also registering 95 tackles and two interceptions on defense. He finished his high school career with 3,820 rushing yards on 335 carries – an average of 11.4 yards per carry – and 58 touchdowns, graduating as the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns.

In college, Amukamara reluctantly switched to cornerback as a freshman at Nebraska. He’s glad he trusted his coaching staff these days, as he was later named a unanimous All-American and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

Amukamara was selected 19th overall by the New York Giants in the 2011 NFL Draft and helped his team win Super Bowl XLVI in his rookie season. He played nine seasons professionally, and finished his career with 477 tackles, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 80 pass deflections and 10 interceptions – including one pick-six.

Had he been a little taller, Amukamara said he might have more seriously considered pursuing basketball beyond high school.

As Apollo’s point guard and top defender, he helped lead the Hawks to three consecutive Arizona Interscholastic Association state championships. He shot 63 percent from the field and averaged 2.6 steals per game during his career, working as the team’s floor general and defensive stopper.

Amukamara also excelled in track and field, winning the 100-meter and 200-meter races at the state meet his senior year and finishing second in the high jump. Athleticism runs in the family, as his mother, Christy Amukamara, competed for Nigeria in the 1984 Olympics.

Athletic prowess doesn’t just run in the Amukamara bloodlines, as his family also comes from royalty. His grandfather was the king of Awo-Omamma, a town in Imo State, Nigeria and his father, Romanus Amukamara, held the title of chief.

In addition to a packed athletic schedule, Amukamara maintained a 3.25 GPA, took college courses on weekends, and participated in student council and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Now retired from professional football, Amukamara stays involved in youth sports through Up2Us, an organization that promotes athletics as a solution to the challenges facing today’s youth. He also recently launched a YouTube channel, “Mr. A Adventures,” aimed at teaching kids about healthy eating and staying active.

He remains engaged with the Apollo community, hosting an annual football and cheer camp and staying in close touch with many of his former teammates and coaches.

On June 30, Amukamara will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame with 10 other honorees during a ceremony at the 106th NFHS Summer Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

Question: Why did you decide to participate in multiple sports in high school?

Amukamara: I was just a natural-born competitor, and I felt like I was great at a lot of things, so I never thought the one-sport mindset was for me. Growing up, I was so thankful for a program out here in Arizona called GRASP (Glendale Recreation After School Program). They really encouraged us to do a lot of sports. I was pretty good at a lot of sports, and I loved competing, so I tried them all.

Question: You come from a large family of athletes. Why were sports so important in your household. Was it a competitive environment?

Amukamara: Super competitive. I have five sisters, and I think that’s why I also played a lot of sports – just so I could just be around the guys. I never had brothers, so my teammates were my brothers. My sisters, we were all alike. I have five kids now, and looking at how they operate, they were just like my sisters. We were all fighting; we were all in competition … I think that’s (because) we’re siblings and that’s just innate. My older sister, Princess, she was probably the alpha for a bit. Just super fast, super aggressive. She actually played JV football at Apollo High School, and I think was one of the first females to have done so. My sister Princess, I think she got a scholarship for softball, and then I got a scholarship, so she kind of started that trend and it started to trickle down. I would say probably the best athlete (among the siblings) is my sister Promise only because, I mean, yeah, I’m a Super Bowl champion and an All-American, but she is a two-time Olympian (for the Nigerian women’s basketball team). I don’t care what sport, and I don’t care what country, that is hard to do. Being great for four years, and just making it, I always give her the nod on that.

Question: Why is it important for you personally to maintain your relationships with your high school coaches and teammates?

Amukamara: For me, it’s a sense of just being reminded of the high school days. My high school days were part of my glory days just because I had a great experience in high school. I know that’s probably not everyone’s experience, but my high school was super diverse. We had a lot of fun. I learned a lot of life-lessons in high school. It also kind of keeps me grounded. They keep me grounded. They were great friends, and they never treated me any differently because of the success and have always been in my corner and rooting me on. That community is very important to me.

Question: Did you ever consider pursuing basketball or track beyond high school?

Amukamara: I wanted to play basketball so bad. I’m 6 foot, if I was maybe 4 to 5 inches taller, I would have pursued basketball. It was just that I was just so much better at football. I mean, basketball, I was able to sit down and play defense and I was super athletic. But football was the sport I was going to go to. It’s funny, my basketball coach, I remember asking him, ‘hey, am I getting any looks?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, but come on. I’m just telling them this guy’s going to play football.’ So that was the case. But yeah, if I had my choice, I would have loved to have gone pro in basketball.

Question: You were also involved in student council and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in high school. Why was it important to you to spend time with those organizations?

Amukamara: FCA was just being part of another community, and a lot of stuff that I learned from FCA was doing sports God’s way. That changed how I play. I always tell everybody that the Christian athlete should be the most fierce athlete just because we’re playing for something bigger than ourselves. … Student council was so fun. When I went into Student Council, it was great, because I got to learn how they put on all the events. I thought the administration put on the events like prom, pep rallies, assemblies and stuff like that. I was able to kind of get behind the curtain and kind of have some influence on things like the theme of homecoming, or where’s prom was going to be. All that working together as a team goes hand-in-hand with sports.

Question: How do you feel like your high school experience helped prepare you for your collegiate career and then the pros?

Amukamara: Education was huge in my house, so my parents pushed that the most. My mom, anytime she heard I was playing football, she just kind of winced a little bit and wasn’t a big fan of the sport. So, they always, always pushed education. I was actually taking college classes in high school. College classes were on Saturday, so I’d play football on Friday night and then the next morning I’m up at community college taking college courses. I think that that helped me a lot, just getting used to that kind of college feel. One thing I learned about college is that they don’t care – they’re not babysitting you, they’re not making sure you’re in the classroom, they’re not making sure you’re taking notes. They’re not making sure you’re paying attention. So, being used to that type of culture, when I got to University of Nebraska, it wasn’t foreign to me.

Question: Why did you decide to start a YouTube show/channel for children?

Amukamara: I think just having kids and seeing that that they’re part of this big YouTube content creation era. We just had triplets two years ago, and so seeing them react and respond to, like Ms. Rachel, I was just thinking I could do this. But also, I’m just passionate about the next generation’s health and wellness. I know how that kind of prolonged my career. I know what it’s done for me, just as a person, and so I kind of want to push that on the younger generation. have different segments for “Mr. A,” and one of my most popular segments is the one-on one-with an athlete. There’s a stat that kids are 80 percent more likely to do a call to action when an athlete or role model says something. …. I interview them, and you hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Question: What’s some advice you might give to a high school student-athlete today?

Amukamara: The best advice that I got in high school was three things, and these are all from my head football coach Zach Threadgill. Number one, nothing good happens after 12 a.m. Love that rule. That just means you have no business being out that late. Number two, he would always also say, ‘Hey, if you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler. … Number three, the most important one, is you’re not going to be a 15-, 16-, 17-year-old for the rest of your life. So that told me it’s like, hey, there’s a sense of urgency. Like I need to mature up. I’m not going to have this kid-like mentality for the rest of my life. …. So, try to think like a mature adult, and try to find something that you’re passionate about and focus on that. Nobody is going to remember you not having the newest Jordans in high school. No one’s not going to remember you having the newest American Eagle or Hollister polo in in high school or whatever. There’s way more to life than high school.

Question: What does your induction into the National High School Hall of Fame mean to you?

Amukamara: It means a lot to me, but I want it to mean more to my community and the people who’ve helped me get there. That’s the administrators, that’s the coaches, that’s the teachers, that’s my teammates. Obviously, my parents and my sisters had a big part. … So, I hope it’s big for them. Not in a cocky way, but it’s more like, ‘Hey, this is what happens when you invest in a student with great intentions and no motives attached.’ I hope it’s just more of a testament to their investment in me. That’s not to and not to say that I’m not super grateful. I saw the list, like Walter Payton, Tom Osborne was on this list. … So, seeing the company that I’m involved with on this list is huge, and I am sometimes surprised that I still made it. Again, I’m just super thankful.

Jordan Morey is manager of communications and media relations at the NFHS.