Penn State running back DK Kency recounts eye-opening first year on campus
Every player goes through a welcome-to-college football moment. For Penn State redshirt freshman running back DK Kency Jr., it didn’t take long to find his. The Louisiana native enrolled last summer and quickly found out that he was a long way from home.
“It was a lot,” Kency recalled. “When I first got here, I was like ‘I don’t know.’ I just wanted to get back home as soon as I got here. After the first practice, when you get here and find out that you’re not what you really thought you were, it’s a very mental thing.
“I got to practice, I’m running, but they’re still with me. I was like, ‘dang.’ My coaches are there telling me that you just can’t do that no more. You have to learn, you have to hone your other skills. Change of direction, jump cuts, and you have to lean how to block if you want to get on the field. So I’ve just been honing all these abilities so I can get better.”
Kency committed to Penn State in January of 2023
Kency committed to Ja’Juan Seider as a preferred walk-on following his senior season at Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, just across the river south of New Orleans. He was District Offensive Player of the Year, running for 1,640 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns as a senior in 2022. On the track, he ran a 10.71-second 100-meter and a 21.60 200-meter dash as a senior.
At this time last year, there was plenty of room for opportunity in the Penn State backfield. Only Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen were set to return in the scholarship ranks, and Kency hoped that he found a place where he could contribute early. He came one of four new faces in the running back room, joining Minnesota transfer Trey Potts and freshmen scholarship additions Cam Wallace and London Montgomery.
Of the four, only Potts would end up seeing game action in 2023.
“When I first got here, I thought I was going to be like third string. Then when I got here I saw how talented the other guys are and saw how much harder I needed to work to improve my game,” said Kency. “I have to get better at blocking, I have to get better at changing direction and I have to get better at catching.”
Looking for a role in Penn State’s crowded backfield
Kency arrived at Penn State around 160 pounds. He has an extensive training background from working with his father, so the lifting came naturally. The weight, however, was a different animal. Sticking to the program’s plan for him and eating roughly six meals a day, Kency now checks in at 180 pounds.
He’s also focused on getting better in the areas he didn’t think about while running away from his high school competition. This offseason, Kency is trying to transition into a more all-around threat. He’s also working on catching punts with the hope of contributing on special teams.
For now, he’s just trying to make it through Penn State’s grueling winter workouts.
“At the end of the day, you can’t think, you just have to run,” said Kency. “That’s all you can do is run. If you think, you get tired. Then it starts going downhill from there. It’s all mental at the end of the day.”
