Since he could walk, Nicholas Barrett has played football, but the Eastern Wayne senior’s career really began to take off in high school when he decided to play college football.

“My freshman year is when I noticed I could play at the next level,” Barrett said.

On the gridiron and in the classroom, Barrett is blessed with exceptional talent. Last season, Barrett had a team-high 15 sacks and was third on the team in tackles. He has a 4.0-grade point average and was named the Eastern Carolina 3A/4A defensive player of the year.

In the spring, Barrett’s hard work paid off when he verbally committed to play football at the University of South Carolina. Barrett is this week’s Brian Allen State Farm Insurance Male Athlete of the Week for his hard work.

“I have weights in my house, so for working out, I’ve been doing the same thing I was doing before the pandemic,” Barrett said. “I went from going to the gym to lifting at my house.”

Recently, Barrett made the decision the graduate in January. Barrett said he would miss playing football with his teammates when the season starts in February, but he is looking forward to going to Columbia and meeting his new Gamecock teammates.

And he made plenty of memories during his time in a Warriors’ jersey.

“My reason to enroll early was with football season being delayed, I’d rather be a step ahead and go to South Carolina and get in early,” Barrett said. “My favorite memory is when we played J.H. Rose my sophomore year, and we came back to beat to beat them, and the Goldsboro game last year, even though we lost that one, I had fun in that game.”

While a combination of talent and skill has defined his play on the field, Barrett credited two more common factors for his stats and awards: hard work and his teammates.

Barrett said his teammates and coaches enabled him to have a successful high school career, and the lessons he learned will help him at the next level.

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