Nick Singleton joins elite company with third All-State selection

There aren’t a whole lot of awards or accolades left for Nick Singleton to collect, at least not at the high school level.

Earlier this month he was named Gatorade’s national football Player of the Year, along with Pennsylvania Player of the Year.

That came on the heels of his second straight Berks Player of the Year selection (the only player in the 25-year history of the award to be named twice).

Wednesday he became just the second Berks player named Player of the Year, when he was accorded that honor on the Pennsylvania Football Writers’ Class 5A All-State team. He became just the second Berks player to earn All-State first-team honors three straight seasons.

He joins some pretty prestigious company.

The only other Berks Player of the Year pick is Alex Anzalone, who’s currently a linebacker with the Detroit Lions and in his fifth season in the NFL. He was named Player of the Year after leading Wyomissing to the PIAA Class AA championship.

The only other three-time All-State pick from Berks is Michal Menet, a former two-time captain at Penn State who has spent this season, his first in professional football, with the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers. Menet earned All-State status at Exeter as a defensive lineman in 2013 and as an offensive lineman in 2014 and 2015.

Singleton rushed for a program record 2,059 yards as a senior and averaged 12.7 yards per carry. For his career — which includes four straight 1,000-yard seasons, something no other Berks player has done — he averaged 10.2 yards per carry.

He became the only player to lead Berks in rushing four straight seasons and finished with a Berks-record 6,326 yards. His 44 touchdowns as a senior and 116 in his career are also Berks records; he tied a county record with seven TDs in a single game.

“This is a superstar running back, and we know what (Penn State) has done at running back,” said John Garcia, Jr., Sports Illustrated’s director of recruiting. “I think Singleton is just the next guy up in that long lineage of strong backs.”

Singleton announced in July that he would attend Penn State; he signed his letter of intent earlier this month.

“He’s a balanced three-down back, meaning he can play inside, he can play outside, he can absolutely factor into the passing game, as well,” said Garcia Jr. “And he’s physically built, ready to go right now from a height and weight standpoint at right over 200 pounds.”

Singleton heads to Penn State next month. He’s enrolling early — he plans to take his first class Jan. 10 — and will immediately begin working out with the team in hopes that he’s in the running back mix for the 2022 season.

Nittany Lions running backs coach JaJuan Seider is already preparing him for such a possibility.

“Coach Seiders said he wants me to come in early, learn the play book, get a lot of work in in the weight room,” Singleton told MikeDragoSports.com earlier this month. “He’ll be pushing me.”

Singleton is confident he can win that job.

“The competition is there,” he said, “they have great running backs. You know, I always like to compete, so it’ll be fun up there.”

First he’ll play what’s considered his final high school game next month when he plays in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

Singleton is ranked the No. 1 high school running back in the nation by several recruiting websites.

“Nick Singleton has every single desirable trait at the running position,” said Steve Wiltfong, Director of Football Recruiting for 247Sports.com. “His combination of size, elite speed, elusiveness and power is rare.

“There’s a reason he’s our top-ranked prospect at the position. He has the ability to get tough yards and also hit the home run. He’s the type of athlete who could win the 100-meter dash and the shot put in the same track meet.”