Nick Singleton named national Player of the Year by Gatorade
Some have called Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton a “generational” football player.
That presumes, of course, that there have been others like him before — and will be more in the future.
No one can predict the future but this much is certain: No Berks athlete has even been named a Gatorade National Player of the Year, as Singleton was Tuesday.
Elite players such as Ron Krick of West Reading, Dick Braucher of Kutztown, Chad Henne of Wilson and Lonnie Walker IV of Reading High have been selected for national honors but Singleton stands alone among Berks team athletes as being named named a national Player of the Year.
This is the 37th year that Gatorade has selected a football Player of the Year. Singleton is just the third Pennsylvanian, and first in 28 years, to be selected.
The Penn State recruit was made aware several days ago of Tuesday’s announcement but thought that it was for his selection as Pennsylvania’s Player of the Year. He was stunned to find out it was for the national award — and doubly so because of who told him.
He got a virtual visit from New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. Singleton seemed as impressed by that as the award itself.
“For him to tell me . . . it was crazy,” Singleton said about an hour after learning of the national award. “Saquon . . . I really look up to him. He’s a big-time running back, a first-round pick. I’m (still) a little shocked right now.”
The former Penn State star joined a Zoom presentation to inform Singleton. While Singleton tried to take it all in his Mustangs teammates celebrated.
“They were all excited, jumping around,” Singleton said. “Everybody was just really happy. It felt good to be there with them.”
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.
Singleton topped a list of state winners that include 34 who will sign National Letters of Intent to play at the Division I level.
Past Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award winners have combined to win six NFL MVPs awards and made 31 Pro Bowl appearances; six have been first-round NFL draft picks. Two have been selected for the Hall of Fame.
The only other Pennsylvania playes to win the award are Curtis Bray of Monroeville, in 1988, and Ron Powlus of Berwick in 1993.
“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.”
He’s done that, of course, but won’t get another chance next spring. He will enroll at Penn State in January and will forfeit his final semester at Mifflin.
Singleton set Berks records for touchdowns in a season (42) and career (114), points in a season (252) and career (688) and rushing yards in a career (6,326). He tied records for touchdowns and rushing touchdowns in a game, with seven, against Warwick in a district playoff game.
He 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.
Later this month he will be named All-State for the third time; in January he will play in the 2022 All-American Bowl.
Singleton is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 running back recruit in the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.com.
“Nick is mature, focused, hard-working and also has all the attributes coaches covet as a student and leader,” said Wiltfong. “Tangibles. Intangibles. This young man has it all.”
Singleton has volunteered extensively as a coach for Bronco’s “Little Kids” football camps and practices. He is an avid participant in Mifflin’s elementary school literacy outreach program and has donated his time as part of community cleanup initiatives. He has maintained a 3.51 GPA.
“There’s a reason the Gatorade Player of the Year award is the most prestigious award in high school sports,” said Gatorade Senior Vice President and General Manager Brett O’Brien. “Winners have to be just as impressive on the field as they are in the classroom and in their community, so it’s no surprise Nick Singleton has earned this honor as he continues to go above and beyond in all three pillars of the award.”
Each year a selection committee evaluates the nation’s top talent to choose one state winner from each of the 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., in 12 sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In all, 608 athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports.
Other national football winners have included Kyler Murray (2014), Matt Barkley (2007), Joe Mauer (2001), Peyton Manning (1994) and Emmitt Smith (1987). Jeff George won the inaugural award in 1986. (Mauer went on to play professional baseball.)
Other Pennsylvania winners include Kobe Bryant, for basketball, in 1996 and Michelle Marciniak, for basketball, in 1991.
