Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1454229
M A R C H 2 0 2 2 47 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M I t takes a special kind of player to earn an offer from Penn State the first time he steps on campus as a high school freshman. Like all good coaching staffs, James Franklin and his assistants do their homework. They may see players they love right from the start, but they usu- ally go back and do their research to make sure that what their eyes are tell- ing them checks out. In the case of Nick Singleton, Penn State had a good feel for what he would ultimately become after a freshman season in which the 14-year-old run- ning back rushed for 1,224 yards and 16 touchdowns. But it was a strong perfor- mance at Penn State's Whiteout Camp in June 2019 that resulted in Franklin's staff becoming the first in the FBS to extend a scholarship offer to the in- state youngster. Looking back, that proved to be an excellent decision; it gave the Nittany Lions a foot in the door before everyone else. That's especially important when you realize that Penn State had to fight off some elite programs to land Singleton, the nation's top running back and No. 25 overall prospect according to the On3 Consensus. By the time on-campus visits resumed last June after a lengthy pause brought on by the pandemic, Singleton had al- ready taken more than a dozen unoffi- cial visits. By BWI's count, he traveled to 14 schools in 2019 and early 2020, a list that included Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, South Caro- lina and West Virginia. You won't find many players in his class who were as active as Singleton as an underclassman. But despite having traveled widely, he still wanted to use his five official visits. After all, a lot had changed over those 16 months. Alabama, Texas A&M and Wisconsin all got him on campus, but it was a trip to Notre Dame last June, just a week after his official visit to Penn State, that gave him something to seriously con- sider. In fact, in the days that followed, rumors started to swirl that he was close to committing to the Irish. As it turned out, those rumors were true. "When I was on the visit, they did something special, and that did make me want to commit," he said. "It made me think, 'Wow, this is really where I want to be at.' "But basically, my parents told me to slow down and not commit right on the spot. Instead, go home, think about it more and then figure it out." Franklin was determined not to let Singleton slip away. After multiple talks over the span of a week or two, includ- ing an important Zoom call that helped sway him back to the Nittany Lions, Singleton knew by the end of June what he wanted to do. He would go on to pub- licly announce his commitment to Penn State on July 6. "It was stressful, I won't lie," Single- ton said. "I enjoyed meeting the coaches and visiting all the schools, but it was a stressful process for me. I was happy to wrap it up." With recruiting behind him, Single- ton went on to post some incredible stats as a senior, rushing for 2,049 yards on just 165 carries, for an average of 12.4 yards per carry. He also scored 41 rush- ing touchdowns. With his dominant performance last fall, Singleton surpassed 100 touch- downs for his career, finishing with 115. That's good for fifth all-time in Penn- An On3 Consensus five-star prospect, Singleton rushed for 6,326 career yards and 115 touchdowns at Governor Mifflin. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER Nick Singleton Looks To Make An Early Impact – Again RYA N S N Y D E R | S N Y D E R 4 2 0 8 8 @ G M A I L . C O M