For Penn State RB commit Nick Scott, life-long journey leads to Beaver Stadium

April 19--Nick Scott is about to begin the journey that eluded those who came before him.

The new Penn State running back will report in June, making official a dream decision that was formed in Lancaster and York counties and gradually grew through family moves, strict academic expectations and giving up another sport.

It also was about buying into what his father and oldest brother taught him.

"He's living out each one of our dreams," said Irvin Scott Jr. "Once that dream slipped away from us, Nick was kind of like our last hope. What drew us to Penn State got kind of opened up to him. He experienced all the love we had for Penn State.

"We're just living vicariously through him ..."

----Everything changed for the Scott family when Irvin Scott Sr. decided to reach beyond being a high school principal.

The father's roots are in York, where his mother and other relatives once lived on Pershing Avenue. But he grew up in Chambersburg, graduated from Millersville University and settled near the Park City Mall in Lancaster County.

He once dreamed of playing football for Penn State.

"I reached out to them, hoping I would get on someone's radar there," Scott Sr. said, remembering his high school days 30 years ago. "I did get a letter back. They appreciated my interest, but ..."

Instead, he earned an education degree, became a teacher and eventually a principal at McCaskey High in Lancaster. He regularly drove his wife, Lakisha, and their kids to York to attend the Emmanuel Church of God and to visit relatives, including his sister.

But he wanted more from his work. With the goal of becoming a superintendent, he entered Harvard's doctoral program and moved the family to Massachusetts.

It was a tough transition on all the boys, especially the older two. They were in high school and had grown up going to Penn State football games, particularly to watch close family friend Corey Jones, a receiver for the Lions in the late 1990s.

It was a bit easier on Nick Scott, who was 11 when the family moved to Massachusetts. Soon enough, though, he began blossoming into an up-and-coming football and track and field star -- one of the most promising high jumpers in the nation.

But jumping was tough on his knees ... and Boston College offered him a football scholarship after the 10th grade ... and his father then landed a job as the deputy director of education for the Gates Foundation.

That sent the Scotts to northern Virginia, where the football talent was deeper and the college recruiting more intense.

Nick Scott "could end up being that once-in-a-lifetime kid you get. Blessed to have had him," said Fairfax High coach Kevin Simonds. "He loves to please people, loves to make people laugh."

Simonds related a scene from last year, when an opposing coach asked Scott why he would play for a Penn State team limited by NCAA sanctions, including no bowl games for two more years.

Scott didn't hesitate: "Actually, I'm going to Penn State to get a great education. I'm going to walk out of there with an unbelievable education."

"That answer" Simonds said, "kind of really threw me."

And then there's the athletic ability and the football value many schools were late to recognize. His strength is the first clue, bench pressing 325 pounds and squatting 485.

Another is his leaping ability. He cleared a stunning 6 feet, 6 inches in the high jump as a freshman. Then there was the clock in the foyer of his high school gym that's maybe 14 feet off the ground. The story goes that Scott stood, leaped and somehow touched it with his fingers.

Though still a shade under 6-feet, he could dunk a basketball in the eighth grade.

And that all eventually led to the football field. Go back to his sophomore season as he sprinted down the sideline during the final game. In one jaw-dropping sequence, he leaped and hurdled a defender, stayed in bounds, and then dove into the end zone for the fourth time that day.

"I remember fans going insane, coaches going crazy," Nick Scott said. "A lineman was standing in the end zone with his hands on him helmet.

"But my father hates when I jump."

That's because Nick Scott suffered a concussion and was out for two months after landing on his head when a jump over another defender went wrong. Last year, he knocked himself unconscious after jumping and lunging to try and block a field goal and landing on his head.

"He has amazing leaping ability," said his father, 46. "But one thing we trained him to do -- or beat into him as parents -- is not to jump too much because it's too risky. He leaps so high that he lands too hard.

"Smart running backs learn how to preserve themselves."

----Always, proving himself in the classroom was most critical in his family.

Not only was his father a Harvard graduate, his mother majored in math at prestigious Franklin & Marshall College, then went on to teach.

"The toughest part was probably the social life," said Irvin Scott Jr. "We weren't kids going to a bunch of sleepovers and things. Anything you think of that normal kids were doing, we weren't doing. We were always studying."

But now look at them.

Irving Jr., 22, is using his Holy Cross degree (he was a starting defensive back there, too) to land a financial planning job. Middle brother Leon is a computer engineering major at Morgan State.

Nick Scott said he wants to study business or psychology at Penn State, possibly in hopes of becoming a psychiatrist one day.

"I enjoy helping people with their problems and giving them my advice," he said.

Mostly, going to Penn State seems to have been a life-long destination. Just look back on how Nick Scott used to cry in the driveway when his father and older brothers went to Nittany Lion games and he was too young to tag along.

Finally, years later, Bill O'Brien offered him that coveted scholarship. He quickly accepted before his recruiting really could get started. (Eventually, Nebraska and South Florida offered and Alabama recruited him as a defensive back.)

Now, he will report to State College in June to play for James Franklin.

"It's really a dream come true. When I got the offer, my coach said he never saw someone smile so wide in his entire life. A lot of kids have favorite teams, but rarely does the opportunity come to play for your favorite team.

"It's motivation to show people how hard I worked over the years. I'm coming back to play hard for the state I grew up in."

Contact Frank Bodani at 771-2104.

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