Nick Singleton is a 'violent' back, HS coach says, offers other insight
Penn State has picked up a verbal commitment from a "violent" running back who is eager to hit the ground running with the Nittany Lions, according to his high school head coach.
On Tuesday night, Nicholas Singleton selected the Lions over Alabama, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame.
The 6-foot, 205-pound back has a tremendous highlight reel from the first three seasons of his prep career, and he has one more slate of games to go before coming to State College.
Related: Nick Singleton opens up about his commitment to Penn State
"Nick’s a very strong runner," Governor Mifflin coach Jeff Lang told BWI. "He’s a violent running back. He’s not looking to avoid, he’s not going down on one hit; he has a gear that he hits that I’ve not seen anybody in high school hit. He gets up to full speed, and look out."
Singleton has high-end speed, an ability to run over and around defenders, and top-notch vision and blocking abilities. He might be as close to a plug-and-play kind of recruit as anyone in this cycle, even if he'll join a position group that will return at least four players, all of whom have plenty of game experience.
"He’s hungry," Lang said. "The kid knows what he wants and does whatever it takes to get it done.
"He’s hungry to be successful and wants to pick the program that will give him the best opportunity to get playing. He wants to get into a program and get going."
That program is Penn State, of course, as the Lions now have 18 verbal commitments although only one is a running back. However, that will surely change in the future, but Singleton was seen as the must-get player at the position, and he's now on board.
Lang said he could remember watching Singleton play at a level far beyond what other kids his age did back during his youth days, and he's steadily progressed while keeping ahead of most of his peers ever since.
It's why he's considered as one of the nation's top running backs, and also the reason 40 or so schools sent an offer his way.
"He’s very, very competitive," Lang said. "At practice he expects perfection and when he’s running plays, and play recognition stuff, he’s full speed all the time. He’s very dedicated to the game, very competitive, and I truly see Nick jumping right into the program and helping wherever he goes."
Singleton plans to enroll early at Penn State, which means he should be able to start fighting for snaps as soon as this upcoming January.
First, however, he'll need to complete his work to graduate from Governor Mifflin and perform well as a senior to take the Mustangs as far as he can.
"Fortunately, he played football with my son in little league stuff, so I’ve known Nick since his first football game," Lang said. "As soon as I saw him step on the field, I knew he was going to be very special. He was heads and shoulders above the other kids at that level.
"Nick was physically above everybody at that point, and he has a great family, and they pushed him in the weight room. He just accelerated really fast and continues to get better, even today."
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