On Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, Cheltenham senior Sam Sykes signed a letter of intent to accept a full scholarship to play football at Saint Francis University. (Photos provided courtesy of Kevin Kaufman/Cheltenham HS)
Sam Sykes – Saint Francis University (Football)
Major: Communications
Reasons for choosing Saint Francis: “Honestly, I wanted to feel at home, I wanted to feel wanted by a university, and Saint Francis was that for me. They hit me up the end of my sophomore year going into junior year. We were texting back and forth, and we had conversations. They 
really saw talent in me, and they saw my abilities. Me and the coaching staff always had a tight bond – the coaching staff is amazing, and I’m glad to be a part of the program.
“A couple of schools were showing a lot of interest. Army was showing a lot of interest, Maine was showing a lot of interest, Bryant, a lot of schools – Sacred Heart, Duquesne, but actually, Saint Francis was the only Division 1 scholarship I had, and it was a full – they covered everything. It’s a blessing.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in football at the collegiate level? “I will say – my freshman year my grades weren’t the best, even my sophomore year, my grades weren’t the best. I had a 1.9 or 2.1 GPA. It was really low. I wasn’t focused, I wasn’t really motivated. I was just trying to get by, but by getting by, you never get anywhere. Coach Nase gave me some talks. He said, ‘You have the potential to go D1 if you’re willing to put in the work.’ I put in the work. My 
junior year I had a 3.55 overall GPA for the year, and I had a 3.86 GPA for this first marking period this year. I’ve maintained honor roll my entire year last year, and it just shows – if you’re willing to put the work in, you’ll receive blessings, you’ll get to wherever you want to be in life. I’m just happy to be where I’m at right now.”
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your recruiting process? “Not having a fall season is really what pushed me to commit so early. I committed Sept. 4, and the pandemic is really what motivated me. Us not having a fall season, I didn’t have a chance to get my film out to coaches that wanted to see more film of me. Saint Francis was my first option always, so I committed. Ever since then, it’s been an adventure.”
A spring football season is scheduled for your team, but how tough was it to not have a fall season? “I love Cheltenham, I love the Panthers, I love being part of the team. I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else. Honestly, all these guys have a story. If you look at these guys, they have
some real life problems, and football has been their motivation, football has been their way out. Football has been a way out for me. Football is what keeps us going. Us not having a fall season has really been tough, but we stay motivated, we keep grinding. This (spring) season is really important to us. Our guys – we’re really excited. We just want to show that we’re a competitive team. We had great guys last year, but we also got a lot of guys coming up that are ready to play. They didn’t have a lot of time to play last year because of our situation – we had a lot of great players, and we just want to show that last year wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t a one-year thing, and we’re here to play.”
Cheltenham coach Ryan Nase says: “Sam is the first guy we’ve had that signed a letter of intent that hasn’t necessarily been the focal point or ‘the guy’ – obviously, he would have been in 2020 but didn’t get the opportunity to, so it also goes to the bigger story we preach to kids that if you do the right thing in games and especially in the classroom, good things will happen.
“What also helped Sam was – as Jamir Barnes was getting recruited as a running back and all those schools were coming in. It was pretty easy to let them know, ‘This kid’s younger but going to be just as good.’ They all came to see Jamir run track, and when they did, they got to see Sam run and they got to see his brother Nate run, and everybody left those track meets going, ‘Those three can fly.’ The crazy part was that was before we made the state title run.
“Academically, the great part about Sam’s story is – when he came in, he really struggled, and he’ll be the first one to tell you this. High school was a big adjustment for him, football was a big adjustment for him because he’d always been the best player on his team. He played for some really, really good youth league teams between the Mount Airy Bantams, the Olney Eagles and the Longcrest Lions, so when he came in, it was a huge adjustment. He didn’t necessarily handle it really well.
“Myself and our running backs coach, who’s known Sam and his brothers for a long time, we knew he was special, and we knew that eventually he was going to figure it out if we stayed on top of him. He finished that freshman year doing better, especially football-wise, but academically, it wasn’t very good. From day one of his (junior) year, academically, he’s been on fire. If Sam doesn’t get his GPA above 3.0, he probably doesn’t get a football scholarship. That’s as big a part of his story as the football part.
“Me being an offensive lineman - when I was recruiting as a college assistant, the first thing we looked for was athleticism and guys that could do a lot of things. With Sam, a lot of people weren’t sure where to put him. They weren’t sure what he was, but they knew he was talented. What’s interesting was - everybody loved him and then said, ‘What is he?’ I said, ‘Whatever you want him to be.’ For Sam, it was always, ‘I’ll playing running back, I’ll play receiver, I’ll play linebacker, I’ll play DB, I’ll play safety, I don’t care. I just want to go.’
“Saint Francis gave him a scholarship as a cornerback, and he hasn’t played one snap of corner for us. He would have played corner for us this year, and hopefully, we’ll get a chance to play in the spring, and he will play corner. Offensively, he’ll be a lot like Jamir (Barnes) was a junior. We’ll put him all the way out wide, we’ll put him in the slot, we’ll put him at wing, we’ll put him in the backfield. If we get to play, he’ll do everything offensively, but he’ll play corner on defense.
“We always knew he was a defensive back, but he was so physical we could play him in the box. Technically, he’s our weak-side linebacker, but he’s really playing like a slot or nickel corner. I’m a huge proponent of kids playing other sports. The one thing that hurt Sam was his height, and his track times are what sold schools. As a sophomore, he ran an 11 flat in the 100. Especially with COVID and not being able to go to camps and normal recruiting things that he didn’t get to do, those track times from his sophomore year are what sold schools on him.”
About Sam:
Favorite food: Fried Pork Chops, Fried Chicken, Mac ‘n Cheese
Favorite TV shows: SpongeBob & Money Heist
Favorite movie: Drum Line
Favorite artists: Lil Uzi Vert, Meek Mill, Future, Gunna
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