Nicholas Paul Dawkins is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

Early life and high school

Dawkins attended Parkland High School in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

. He was rated as a three-star recruit and committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

over offers from schools such as Indiana, Northwestern, Boston College, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia.

College career

During Dawkins first four seasons from 2020 through 2023, he appeared in 26 games for the Nittany Lions with no starts as he played behind future NFL draft picks such as

Michal Menet Michal James Menet (born August 8, 1997) is an American professional football center. He played college football at Penn State and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL draft. Early life Menet was born on Au ...

, Juice Scruggs, and

Hunter Nourzad Hunter Lee Nourzad (born November 26, 2000) is an American professional football center for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Cornell Big Red and Penn State Nittany Lions and was sel ...

. Ahead of the 2024 season, he finally became a starter for the Nittany Lions, becoming the team's starting center for the first time. Dawkins was also named a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. In 2024, Dawkins started in all of Penn State's games including their three playoff matchups, earning honorable mention all-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

honors. He was also honored for his work off the field being named the winner of the Wuerffel Trophy and being named to the AFCA Good Works Team.

Personal life

Dawkins is the son of former NBA champion

Darryl Dawkins Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, althoug ...

. He is also the cousin of Hall of Fame defensive back

Brian Dawkins Brian Patrick Dawkins Sr. (born October 13, 1973), nicknamed "Weapon X", is an American former professional football player who was a safety for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played ...

and NBA all-star

Karl-Anthony Towns Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. (born November 15, 1995), nicknamed “KAT”, and “The Big Bodega”, is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college baske ...

References

External links

Penn State Nittany Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, Nick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Players of American football from Allentown, Pennsylvania American football centers Parkland High School (Pennsylvania) alumni Penn State Nittany Lions football players