2027 RB Nate Ellis Explains UMass Commitment

2027 Williston Northampton running back Nate Ellis talks about why he chose the Minutemen.

UMass wasn’t always set on taking a running back in the 2027 recruiting class. Nonetheless, Nate Ellis always knew exactly where he stood with the Minutemen.

That transparency and consistency ultimately helped convince the Massachusetts native that UMass was the right place for him.

The Williston Northampton standout announced his commitment to the Minutemen on Thursday, choosing UMass over offers from schools like Georgetown, Rhode Island and Richmond among others.

“UMass was actually the first team to offer me when I announced I was doing a post-grad year at Williston and stuck with me throughout the process,” said Ellis. “UMass was very transparent with me throughout all of it. There was a point in time where they didn’t know if they were going to take a running back in this class, and they were just transparent with me the whole time and then stuck with me throughout the process.

“I had other offers from schools and some of the schools would talk to me here and there, but I wouldn’t hear from them at times. UMass was just there the entire time. That’s something that stuck out to me most.”

The Minutemen see versatility in Ellis’ game that extends beyond simply carrying the football. Before settling into the backfield, he played slot receiver and believes his experience at both positions gives him the ability to become a multidimensional weapon in college.

“When I first played high school football my sophomore year, I was playing slot receiver,” Ellis said. “I’ve played slot receiver and running back my whole life. So I have some ability to catch the ball, line up out wide, line up in the slot, catch it from out of the backfield. I think they were brought in by my receiving ability.”

The 5-foot-9, 200-pounder originally belonged to the 2026 recruiting class before announcing in December that he would reclassify into 2027 and return to Williston Northampton for another season.

UMass quickly made him a priority once he made that decision, with running backs coach Jeremy Larkin developing a strong relationship with Ellis and his family.

“Coach Larkin’s great,” Ellis said. “My family, we got to hang out with him when I went on a visit. I think it may have been in February or March. I also went to the basketball game there and just hung out with Coach Larkin. It was me, my dad, my mom, and Coach Larkin pretty much the whole day.

“We got a lot of time to just spend time and talk to him outside of football. We got to learn about his family and stuff like that. That was really great getting to know him in that regard.”

Ellis also believes in what UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak is trying to build in Amherst.

“He’s great,” Ellis said. “I think he’s very motivated to change the program. Obviously UMass hasn’t been as successful as they want to be the past few years. And I think Coach Harasymiak is super motivated right now to change UMass Football and get it back to where it was a while ago.”

Ellis didn’t have to rely solely on his own impressions of the program.

His former Williston Northampton teammate Drew Alsup is already at UMass and has provided Ellis with an inside look at the direction of the program.

“One of my good friends who I played at Williston with this past year, Drew Alsup, went there and just hit the ground running,” Ellis said. “He’s told me nothing but great things. He said the coaches are motivated. The players are motivated. That’s where I want to be. I want to be at a school that wants to be great.

“I kind of got that vibe from UMass when I was there on the visit, just the amount of effort they were putting into their recruits and things like that. And then also Drew told me if I go here, I’m going to love it here. I kind of took Drew’s word for it too.”

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