Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1464375
3 2 M A Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M N ick Singleton was 11 years old the first time he made the half-hour drive to Garage Strength with his dad, Timmy. Getting there meant passing up gyms that were closer to the family's home in Shillington, Pa. Full Throttle Fitness Fac- tory, Breakdown Athletics, Planet Fitness and Retro Fitness all could have sufficed, none more than a mile from home. But Garage Strength and its owner, Dane Miller, had come highly recommended. Seeking out an unconventional trainer, with an unconventional clientele and an unconventional locale, the Single- tons rode Reading's West Shore Bypass, hopped onto Route 61 north and turned at the light by the furniture store onto a country road. A distinct smell emanated from the cinderblock mushroom farms not far away when father and son pulled up at their destination: a red barn on a river rock foundation with dusty floor- boards, weight racks, ropes, and endless possibility. "It kind of reminded me of 'Rocky IV' — training in Russia," Timmy Singleton said. "It was cold in the winter and hot in the summer." The better part of a decade has passed since the Singletons first set foot in Ga- rage Strength. Nick just turned 18 in Janu- ary and is three months into his first se- mester at Penn State. He is coming off a senior season at Governor Mifflin High in which he won Gatorade National Player of the Year honors and was the No. 1 run- ning back in the class of 2022 according to the On3 Consensus, as well as the No. 16 overall prospect. Nothing about his approach to train- ing has changed as Singleton has worked his way through winter workouts and spring practice with the Nittany Lions. Displaying a rare combination of physical prowess and mental fortitude, the 6-foot, 219-pound freshman has shown that he will put in whatever work is necessary to become the best. In that sense, his first semester at Penn State is merely a con- tinuation of the effort he invested in that barn. "The best ever, for him, is a motivation. He wants to be the best Nick Singleton that could exist," Miller said. "That's why he's so good. So many athletes struggle with performance anxiety because they feel pressured, whereas Nick is looking at it through the positive lens of believing he can be the best. "He puts in the work. I think that his approach is really what makes him. That's what makes him tick. He goes out onto a field and it's just his time to show the work that he's done." Dedicated To Improvement For four seasons at Governor Mifflin, Singleton made a habit of it. He finished with 2,049 rushing yards on 165 carries as a senior with the Mustangs, scoring 41 touchdowns on the ground. For his career, he had 116 touchdowns and 6,326 rush- ing yards, both records in Berks County and among the top performances in PIAA history. His success was rooted in a belief that it was possible in the first place, and that belief stemmed in part from his time with Miller at Garage Strength. Singleton had found out about Miller from Neil George, father of current Pitt starting linebacker Brandon George. Once he entered into that environment, Sin- gleton was exposed to a proven training methodology. Sam Mattis, a three-time NCAA All- America discus thrower at Penn and a 2020 Olympian, trained at the gym. So did Alex Rose, a discus thrower represent- ing Samoa in the past two Olympics. Miller also has helped develop a number of notable football players. One of Single- ton's high school teammates, Cam'Ron Stewart, who is now a redshirt freshman at Rutgers, trained at Garage Strength, as did former Nittany Lion starting line- backer Jan Johnson, and brothers Isaac Lutz (Penn State) and Cooper Lutz (Syra- cuse). In addition, offensive lineman Jven Williams, an On3 five-star prospect in Penn State's 2023 recruiting class, has been working out for the past two years at Garage Strength, which now operates out of a repurposed Caterpillar Construc- tion Equipment space a few miles from its previous location. PEDAL PEDAL TO TO THE METAL THE METAL A fierce commitment to strength training has helped put freshman running back Nick Singleton on the fast track at PSU N A T E B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M