Nick Singleton officially makes it official

When he pulled on a Penn State cap back in July and said, “We Are,” Nick Singleton thought it was finally over.

He thought the months and months of endless calls and text messages from college coaches would finally end after he announced his commitment to play football at Penn State.

He breathed a sigh of relief that warm summer day.

But the recruiting never really stopped. Even in the days leading up National Signing Day the Gov. Mifflin running back continued to hear from coaches at Notre Dame and Alabama. They reminded him that it wasn’t too late to change his mind.

Now it is.

Singleton signed his NCAA letter of intent early Wednesday morning, as did top recruits around the county and the nation, and officially made it official. Finally, after several intense years of being constantly recruited, the top prospect in Pennsylvania could break into a smile.

“I feel good now,” Singleton said after a brief ceremony at the high school. “I feel more relieved now.”

It wasn’t quite as exciting as the day before when Singleton, with his Mustangs teammates gathered around him, was named national Player of the Year by Gatorade. That was a party.

This was more subdued, which is more Singleton’s nature. He’d rather work out or play than be the center of attention or talk about himself. He’s OK with being the focus when he’s on the field but off it he’d just as soon remain in the background.

Singleton has been a hot college recruit for years, since breaking onto the scene with the first 1,000-yard rushing season ever by a Berks freshman. Two months before his sophomore season he was offered by Penn State, starting a furious recruiting battle.

It seemingly came to an end in July when Singleton — who had more than three dozen major college offers — chose the Nittany Lions over Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Alabama.

There were some anxious moments in the fall when stories began to circulate that Penn State coach James Franklin was considering jobs at LSU or USC. Singleton said at the time he didn’t think Franklin would leave and that turned out to be true, after the college extended his contract.

None of that affected Singleton’s senior season. He was better than ever, averaging nearly 13 yards per carry and almost four touchdowns per game. He rushed for 2,059 yards in 11 games to become the only player in Berks history with four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He ended up with 6,326 rushing yards and 114 career touchdowns, records that might never get touched.

Now he can look forward to doing similar things at Penn State. 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 playbook, get a lot of work in in the weight room,” Singleton said. “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.”