Senior Spotlight: Big Happy

(photo by Andrew Ivins | 247Sports)

Nicholas Smith is a senior here at Walnut Grove High School. He starts on the varsity football team as a D-Lineman, and has recently committed to the University of Kentucky.
by Kweku Assan and AJ Diaz

Nicholas Smith is a Walnut Grove High School senior and plays for the varsity football team. He starts as a defensive lineman and is ranked 1091 in the nation.

Getting into football
Nicholas Smith, also known as “Big Happy”, started football when he was a child. “What made me fall in love with football was Odell Beckham Jr.” He says, “I feel like when I was a kid, I played football to have fun. But now, it's like my life and personality.

Big Happy loves to be physical. He feels like the love of being able to move around and being physical allows him to enjoy the beautiful game of football. He also believes that the reason he got into football was because “I was always that one big kid in recess, so I finally get to be on the field with other big kids and have fun.” This demonstrates his love for the game.

College 
“Big Happy” has been playing football since he was a child. He loved it so much that when he got into high school football and started getting offers, he thought he would take it more seriously. This allowed him to push harder to get offers. Big Happy was able to get five total offers, alloweing him to choose and commit to Kentucky. 

Here are his current offers (247Sports):

• Kentucky Wildcats (committed on 6/21/24)
• Appalachian State Mountaineers
• Georgia Southern Eagles
• Georgia State Panthers
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Big Happy has his reasons for committing to Kentucky. He said, “Well… the way they built the fam around me, kept [me/us] connected, able to talk to me all the time, checking up on me other than football, and plus, I like blue.” 

To him, the support Kentucky offered was enough to help him join their school. His main goals when it comes to college are to “get a degree… and make it to the [NFL].”

Nicholas has a bright future ahead of him. His senior year has just begun, but a new door is about to open right in front of him.