Nick Singleton headed to ESPY Awards
Some day Nick Singleton may be up for an ESPY Award. For now the former Gov. Mifflin star will have to be content to walk the red carpet and watch the annual sports/celebrity event in person.
The Penn State running back has been invited to the ESPYs and will be in attendance at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles Wednesday for the 30th annual ceremony.
Singleton, about to begin his freshman season with the Nittany Lions, will be in Los Angeles for the Gatorade Athlete of the Year Award Show on Tuesday. He is one of 12 national Player of the Year award winners and one of six up for Male Athlete of the Year.
Singleton, Berks’ all-time rushing leader, was named Gatorade’s national football Player of the Year in December. Now he’s eligible for the overall prize, along with the Player of the Year picks in basketball, soccer, baseball, track and field and cross country.
The awards show will be hosted by Taylor Rooks. Among the top athletes and celebrities expected to attend are J.J. Watt of the Arizona Cardinals, newly drafted Jaden Ivey of the Detroit Piston, Gotham FC goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, Atlanta Dream co-owner Renee Montgomery and Stanford basketball star Haley Jones.
Each of the 12 Gatorade award recipients were invited to attend the ESPYs, which will be hosted by Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry. The show will be broadcast on ABC-TV.
Curry is up for Best Male Athlete, along with Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.
Singleton became the first Berks athlete named a Gatorade National Player of the Year.
This was the 37th year that Gatorade has selected a football Player of the Year. Singleton was just the third Pennsylvanian, and first in 28 years, to be selected.
The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character. The Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which includes coaches, scouts and media, selected Singleton from more than one million student-athletes who play high school football.
The only other Pennsylvania players to win the award are Curtis Bray of Monroeville, in 1988, and Ron Powlus of Berwick in 1993.
Gatorade’s other national winners for the 2021-2022 school year:
- Baseball: Brock Porter, Michigan
- Girls basketball: Kiki Rice, District of Columbia
- Boys basketball: Gradey Dick, Kansas
- Girls cross country: Natalie Cook, Texas
- Boys cross country: Colin Sahlman, California
- Softball: Keagan Rothrock, Indiana
- Girls soccer: Riley Jackson, Georgia
- Boys soccer: Jacob Murrell, Maryland
- Girls track and field: Juliette Whittaker, Maryland
- Boys track and field: Cade Flatt, Kentucky
- Volleyball: Averi Carlson, Texas
