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Malachi Coleman's ascendance into a Big Ten recruit has happened relatively quickly. 

Before this year, the Lincoln East junior had never played a snap of varsity football. Over the summer, the two-way standout impressed at Nebraska's camps this summer with his combination of size and speed and his recruiting interest built a little bit, but it was mostly periodic conversations with Nebraska and contact from smaller schools. 

Then the season started, and he both put his physicals abilities display and put up big numbers on both sides of the ball. 

On Friday, one night after his team rolled past Millard North, 41-10, the Huskers offered him a scholarship. 

"To be honest, it kind of came out of nowhere," Coleman told the Journal Star. "It started over the summer, getting a little bit of interest and going to those camps. They said I looked good and they were going to keep eyes on me. The season started, I started getting more and more looks the better I did. 

"Then I got a call today from Barrett Ruud telling me that they wanted to offer me. It was so unreal in that moment." 

Coleman through six games has eight catches for 258 yards and five touchdowns on offense and 29 tackles and four sacks defensively, where he's been a revelation as a rusher off the edge. 

In East's Sept. 23 blowout of Lincoln Southeast, Coleman hauled in a 79-yard touchdown on the first offensive snap of the night, caught another touchdown later in the game, recorded two sacks and forced a fumble. 

Coleman is listed at 6-foot-5. Nebraska is his first Power Five offer. 

Over the summer at Nebraska's camps, he said he didn't know what to make of the talent level or how to size himself up against the competition. 

"There were a couple of corners there that were just insane," Coleman said. "Like (now Vanderbilt commit Quantaves) 'Gumbo' Gaskins, I've never been covered like that before. I thought, 'Well, this is what varsity is going to be like. I've got to lock in.' But I got to the season, started putting more work in, got starter, figured out how to get off the line better and how to get off coverages, be an overall better athlete and I started picking apart everything." 

Nebraska already has two in-state verbal commitments for the 2023 class in Pierce tight end Benjamin Brahmer and Lincoln Southeast offensive lineman Gunnar Gottula. The Huskers also have offers out to Elkhorn South defensive lineman Maverick Noonan and Lincoln Southeast outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti. 

"I'm extremely excited to see where (my recruitment) is going now," he said. 

He's been living with his adopted parents in Lincoln now for seven years and he said he's always had an affinity for the Huskers. 

Coleman is expected to be on campus Saturday for an unofficial visit when Nebraska takes on Northwestern at Memorial Stadium. 

2022 offers going out: Nebraska's going to have a very small high school class in its 2022 recruiting cycle. Where NU has used the vast majority of its 25 spots per year on high school players in recent years, this year might be as few as 13 or so. 

With eight already in the bank, the Huskers have one official visitor this weekend (Hawaii linebacker Kaeo Akana, a current Boise State verbal commit) and have recently extended a couple of fresh offers in the class. 

On Thursday, Nebraska offered junior college cornerback Zah Frazier (Coffeyville, Kansas, Community College). Then Friday, it offered high school defensive lineman Isaiah Hastings out of Clearwater Academy International in Florida. 

Frazier is a tall, lanky defensive back listed at 6-foot-4. The Georgia native began his college career at Southern Illinois in 2019, appeared in four games and redshirted. Then the 2020 season got scrambled during the pandemic and he transferred to Coffeyville. Teams have liked what they've seen from Frazier so far, and he's picked up offers from Utah, Oregon State, Kentucky and others just in the past two weeks. 

He said via his Twitter account that he's a December graduate and he would have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2022. 

Hastings (6-5 and 290 pounds) is a Toronto native and, like many players from Canada and other countries, has found a place to play high school ball in the United States at CAI. His stock has blown up considerably this fall. Hastings reported offers from Alabama and Georgia in September, and he has added several others in recent weeks as well. 

The Huskers also have a 2022 defensive back coming to campus this weekend in Alejandro Colbert (Missouri City, Texas). They have not yet offered him a scholarship.

Nebraska has eight verbal commitments for the 2022 class and last added to it defensive lineman Hayden Schwartz (Jacksonville, Florida), who jumped on board July 14. 

2022 Husker football recruits