Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M hour about football, and he reciprocates stuff back that I need to know and just need to hear. "The advice that he can give [is help- ful], too. You see what he does on the football field, but outside of the football field as well. Just looking what he does for his foundation, and then just his community back in Allentown is huge as well. I think that's why people look up to Dawk a lot. Not only the football player that he is, but the human being that he is." Donkoh echoed his fellow lineman's assessment, describing Dawkins as "the best leader on the team." "Anytime he speaks up about any- thing, everybody just looks at him. He just commands the room every time he speaks," Donkoh said. "Obviously, he was a big role model to me when I was young and still is a role model. He's just an amazing person." Competition Is Key Dawkins' leadership abilities will help guide the deepest offensive line of the Franklin era at Penn State. Senior Drew Shelton is back to man the left tackle spot. Ioane will slot in beside him at left guard. Dawkins is the man in the middle at center. Then, the right side is still being sorted out, which speaks to the number of starter-caliber players Penn State has amassed. Cousins is taking on Donkoh for the right guard job, while the latter is also battling redshirt senior Nolan Rucci for the right tackle spot. The list of names who could factor into the two- and three-deep goes on from there, and it ensures that Allar and the rest of the offense will have the protec- tion they need on pass plays and the push they need on run plays. It's a far different situation than the one Franklin inherited when he arrived at Penn State in 2014. That unit featured only a handful of scholarship offensive linemen and barely enough blockers to fill out a two-deep, let alone a three- deep. Twelve years later, Penn State has nearly enough quality scholarship play- ers to assemble a four-deep depth chart. "We've worked hard at creating posi- Community Service Is Dawkins' Passion Center Nick Dawkins became the first Penn Stater to win the Wuerffel Trophy when he was saluted last December. The award is considered col- lege football's top honor for community service. "Nick's selfless leadership and meaningful impact on others have right- fully earned him the 20th anniversary of this award," said Danny Wuerffel, the Heisman Trophy-winning Florida quarterback for whom the award is named. "Every one of us has the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Nick exemplifies this powerful capability." Much of Dawkins' community service work has been on behalf of the Dawkins Family Foundation, for which he serves as president. Launched in 2022, the foundation uses mentorship, educational workshops and scholarship aid to help young people develop academic and professional skills. It has held a bookbag drive the past three years in Allentown, Pa., to gather school supplies for students in need, and it also offers three scholarships to high school seniors, with one of the grants named after Dawkins' late father, Darryl Dawkins. "We just try to provide opportunities," Nick Dawkins told the Big Ten Network. "Wasted potential is something we want to alleviate in this country. This is me playing my part in doing that." Dawkins is also president of the Uplifting Athletes chapter at Penn State and serves on the Still Strong Foundation, which was founded by PSU football alumnus Devon Still to provide financial assistance to families af- fected by pediatric cancer. Dawkins' mother, Janice, serves as treasurer of the Dawkins Family Foundation, and his father has been an inspirational presence. Darryl Dawkins, an NBA star with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, died in 2015, but his commitment to community service is a major reason why the nonprofit exists. "All the things he did in the community, he always brought me along," Dawkins told CBS Sports. "It was awesome to see. He never made it a point to talk a lot about what he did on the court. It was more [about] the impact he had off of it." The foundation, Dawkins said, "is in remembrance of my family's com- mitment to the community. We help kids in any way we can. That might be backpacks, it might be 'Do I have a calculator for this test,' it might be cleats, it might be football pads. … We'll help any kid we can." — Greg Pickel Dawkins was awarded the Wuerffel Trophy last year. Named for former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel, the award was established in 2005 to honor the FBS player who best combines a commitment to community service with leadership on and off the field. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS