When you look back at Riverview Gabriel Richard’s sports success over the last four years, one person has his hands on two different sports and has helped lead them to the Breslin Center and Ford Field for the Basketball and Football Semifinals and Finals.
That player is Nick Sobush, a senior who was the football team’s quarterback and the basketball team’s point guard. In football, Sobush led them to their best finish in school history. “Coming in as a freshman for football, we kind of struggled.” That might be an understatement as they finished 3-5 his freshman year, but you could see the bones in place to start moving that team forward. When his freshman year on the gridiron ended, he shifted his focus to his first love of basketball. On the basketball court, Sobush would team up with fellow freshman and friend Luke Westerdale. That freshman year of basketball was a complete 180 from football as they would go 19-0 in the regular season that freshman year before falling to Ecorse in the District Semifinal. On the basketball court, you would see that chemistry build, and that would also help lead the way for them to succeed in football.
What Sobush learned playing basketball helped make him the leader he is. That transitioned over to football, where you could see the correlated success between the two sports. Another thing that has helped Sobush these four years is playing football and basketball with his twin brother, Antonio. The twins both played at a high level and were key factors in making it to Ford Field for the football state finals. Nick said it’s been fun getting to play with his brother, and making it to their goal of getting to the football state finals, even though they came up a game short, and doing the same last year of being able to get to the Breslin Center last year for the semifinals and now to try and make it back and win it all is a special opportunity.
Normally, when you see two brothers on a team, it’s for a year, as one is going to graduate or has already graduated before ever getting a chance to play together. Not only are the twins able to play at this high level, but they are following in the footsteps of their older brother, Damon Singleton, who Sobush said is really special to him. Even though he looks up to Damon, there is nothing like the connection that he shares with Antonio. “That connection between us has always been there,” according to Nick. “Not just in football and basketball; it’s in everything we do,” he would say.
The last calendar year for Sobush has been a whirlwind: last March, they made it to the Breslin Center for the semifinals as a junior, his recruitment process, senior year, a trip to the state finals in football, and getting ready to make a deep run in the basketball playoffs yet again. Sobush had no time off between football and basketball this year, with the State Finals for football happening on November 29 and their first basketball game on November 30. While the state final game didn’t go as planned, or the basketball game for that matter, it was still a special night for Sobush as he would score his 1000th career point. That would also be the same night his teammate Luke Westerdale hit his 1000th point. Two players who are teammates and friends that reach the same milestone on the same night is special. Still, the flip in mentality from losing in the state finals to basketball needed to be quick, and according to Sobush, it was even though his body was feeling the wear and tear.
After all of the festivities of the 1000th point, which he didn’t know about until a day later, it was time for him to lock down his college plans and decide whether to play football or basketball at the next level. The process wasn’t easy for Sobush, and he and his parents might not have seen eye-to-eye on what he should play in college. While Sobush is an amazing football player and had offers to go that route, he chose basketball, saying, “I’ve always loved basketball.” he would say, “It’s always been my first love.” The recruiting process took a while and dragged on because of interest from schools for football and basketball. The school he would pick. Siena Heights
One person who helped with the recruitment process was his older brother, Damon Singleton. Singleton, who played his high school ball at Wyandotte, would also go on to play division one football for Ball State University. Sobush said he leaned on Singleton to help him with some of the recruitment process’s ins and outs. “He said it’s a full-time job,” Sobush recalled his brother telling him. “However, I feel like I’m ready for that,” Sobush continued.
When Sobush was younger, he would go and watch Singleton under the Friday night lights, and he said that watching him helped prepare him for his turn under the lights and even on the basketball court: “Even though I was kind of young, I always wanted to be out there,” Sobush would say. Watching his older brother led him down this road, and that, along with the amount of film that Sobush watches, got him to where he is today. That dedication to his craft and leadership, which he hopes he’s remembered for from high school, created one of the most fierce competitors you’re ever going to meet. With only a week of the basketball season left for Sobush he is looking to go out on top with his dream from the moment that he entered high school fulfilled as a State Champion.