Forest Hills Northern’s Trinidad Chambliss is one of the Grand Rapids area’s most dynamic two-sport athletes.

The rising senior is pretty good at snagging an autograph, too.

“We went on a family trip to Washington D.C. when I was really young, and it was LeBron James’ second or third year in the league,” Chambliss said. “We went to a Washington Wizards game and they were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers. We went when they were working out.”

Chambliss was ready when James came walking out of the tunnel.

“I called out, ‘King James!’” Chambliss said. “He came over, grabbed my ball and autographed it. That was really special.”

Chambliss is a 6-foot point guard and quarterback for the Huskies, and while he hasn’t received any official offers, he has been attracting college interest in both sports.

He averaged 18 points, 4.1 assists, 4 rebounds and two steals for the OK White Conference co-champion Huskies last winter. Chambliss also can burn opponents on the football field with his arm and legs. Take what happened in FHN’s win over Greenville this past fall. He had over 300 yards of offense, and he scored three touchdowns.

It’s no wonder why colleges are reaching out. Chambliss said Saginaw Valley Northern Michigan, Calvin University, Aquinas College, Bethune Cookman and Wabash College have expressed interest in basketball. The University of North Dakota, Butler University, the University of Dayton, Alma College, Michigan Tech, Notre Dame College of Ohio and Northwestern Ohio have done the same in football.

Not only will Chambliss have to decide where to go, but what to play.

“I am open to both, depending on which college is best for me and my family, which opportunity is best for me and my family,” Chambliss said. “(Football) is the ultimate team sport, and I love the atmosphere and the toughness that you have to bring to the table. It’s the same thing with basketball. You have to be smart and recognize different defenses and offenses and adjust to what you are seeing on the court and the field. Both are high speed games.”

The Huskies have one of the area’s most dangerous backcourts in Chambliss and shooting guard Ethan Erickson, who has verbally committed to Ferris State. Chambliss and Erickson helped lead the Huskies to the Division 1 district finals last winter before the season was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chambliss, who is a three-year varsity basketball player, had the game-winning 3-pointer last winter against FHC, and his layup with 2.5 seconds to go sealed FHN’s victory against Northview. He shot over 56 percent from the floor his junior year.

“From an athletic standpoint, Trinidad has all the tools,” FHN basketball coach Joe Soules said. “He can get from point A to point B as quick as anybody in the state, he can defend at a high level and he can shoot at a pretty good clip.

“He is a good football player, too. The beauty of the thing is that the kid has options. He is going to have options going into his senior year.”

Eddie Ostipow took over the coaching reigns of FHN’s football team a year ago and implemented a new offense. Ostipow said the Huskies began to soar as the season progressed and the Huskies acclimated themselves to the system, scoring 26 points in a Week 6 loss to Northview before beating Kenowa Hills 37-0 and Greenville 35-28 the next two weeks.

“He is such a versatile kid,” Ostipow said. “He definitely has that ability to play quarterback at the next level, but he also can play receiver. He is lightning in a bottle speed-wise and quickness. He is elusive and dangerous in the open field. But he also has the ability to stay in the pocket and make a lot of throws that a lot of high school kids can’t make.

“Towards the end of the year last year, he started to find his groove. The kids had to learn a new offense last year, and there was a little bit of a learning curve for all of the kids, especially the quarterback. The quarterback has to know it all, and he did a nice job the second half of the season running the offense and showing what we are capable of doing here.”

Chambliss has been keeping busy preparing for the fall football season, and he is playing AAU basketball for the UTS Elite.

“Trinidad is one of the best point guards in the state and we have played on the same travel team since the third grade,” Erickson said.

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