MUSKEGON TWP. - The really amazing part is that Travis Ambrose does not have much football experience at all.
But his size and athleticism were enough to convince the coaches at Central Michigan University that he has a bright future, and they offered him a scholarship just hours after meeting and watching him work out last summer.
Ambrose officially accepted that offer on Wednesday, signing a national letter of intent to play football at CMU, starting in the fall of 2024. The signing came in front of coaches, teammates, family and friends during a ceremony at Reeths-Puffer High School.
Ambrose credits the football coaches at Reeths-Puffer for recognizing his potential and convincing him to return to the sport before his high school athletic career was over.
“They told me I could have a big future in football,” Ambrose said. “I didn’t believe them at first, then they took me to a CMU camp, and they offered me on the spot. Obviously they knew something I didn’t.”
Ambrose tries to escape a tackle against Mona Shores this season. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Some will be surprised to hear that Ambrose will be playing college football, because he’s always been known in Reeths-Puffer circles, and throughout the area, as a basketball standout.
Since his freshman year, Ambrose has partnered with close friend Jaxson Whitaker to provide the bulk of the R-P basketball team’s scoring punch.
Ambrose, who now stands 6-foot-8, provided the inside post points while having the ability to shoot from the outside. Whitaker has been the three-point specialist who is also great at driving through traffic to the bucket.
Whitaker averaged 18.6 points per game last season and Ambrose averaged 16.8. Most assumed both would move on to play college basketball after graduation.
Whitaker is doing exactly that, having recently signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Ferris State University, but Ambrose has gone in another direction.
Ambrose tries to haul in a pass against Muskegon. Photo/Jeremy Clark
In terms of football experience, Ambrose is still pretty wet behind the ears. As a youngster growing up in California, he only played flag football, which is a lot different than the tackle version.
He and Whitaker played varsity football as R-P sophomores, but did not enjoy the experience and did not return to the team as juniors.
But they came back and played as seniors this fall, started on offense and had great seasons.
For Ambrose, the change really started when R-P head football coach Cody Kater convinced him to join three other players at a CMU summer football camp in June. The Chippewa coaches were immediately impressed with his potential and quickly made him a recruiting target – even with no high school stats to speak of.
“His mom was working at the school, and we went to her first about trying to get him to go to the camp,” said Kater, who was a quarterback for CMU during his college career. “We just wanted to bring him to camp and see what the feedback was. We told them he didn’t play (as a junior), but we wanted them to help us evaluate him.
Ambrose goes for a layup against Muskegon last season.
“He went, and within the first 15-20 minutes they made their way over to us, gave us some feedback, and later that night they offered him (a scholarship).”
Ambrose validated what all the coaches thought by having a great season with the Rockets this fall. As the starting tight end, he caught 25 passes for 304 yards, including six touchdowns, and won All-State, All-Region and All-Conference honors.
As the season went by, his success on the field convinced Ambrose that he had a real future on the gridiron.
“I got my offer in June last summer from Central, and that made a huge impact in my life,” he said. “Then throughout the season I noticed a steady incline in my performance. Before the season I didn’t know what I was going to do, then throughout season I started to fall in love with football more and more.”
Ambrose said he was very impressed with the close bond that existed on the R-P football team in the fall.
Ambrose with a bunch of R-P teammates after Wednesday's ceremony. Photo/Joe Lane
“I had never been on that close of a team,” he said. “The brotherhood really brought me toward football.”
He also said he simply realized that he likes football more than basketball.
Of course Ambrose still has a lot of basketball business to attend to. He and Whitaker are the senior leaders of a promising Rocket team that is off to a 3-1 start with a lot of season left.
As for the future, Ambrose said he will still play basketball with friends, and will come back and assist with the R-P varsity if invited, but when the current season is over, football will be his focus.
“I fell in love with football fast,” he said. “Just everything about it, including the physicality. It’s just something different from basketball. I have fouled out of a lot of basketball games, but it’s easy for me to get physical in football.”
