Todd Singleton never planned to play basketball at Duke. He planned to study engineering there. Basketball was something he had done at Old Mill High School in Millersville, Maryland — two years of varsity, 10.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on a 12-9 team. Respectable, but not the kind of numbers that get you recruited by anyone in the ACC. Yale, maybe. Cornell. Not Duke.
Born and raised in Severn, Maryland, a quiet community in Anne Arundel County wedged between Baltimore and Annapolis, Singleton was the kind of kid who excelled at everything he touched. He carried a 4.0 GPA at Old Mill. His SAT score was 1,270. He won a Maryland state championship in the high jump as a junior — his coach, Paul Bunting, called his athletic ability exceptional despite the modest basketball resume. He volunteered for the Special Olympics, worked in homeless shelters, and served as a therapeutic counselor for the mentally challenged. The National Achievement Scholarship Program recognized him as an Outstanding Negro Student. He was listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students.
"When I decided on Duke, I pretty much reserved myself to playing rec ball, playground ball around Durham and didn't think I would ever get a chance to play for the big team," Singleton later told the Baltimore Sun. Then, in late October of his freshman year, injuries ravaged Duke's roster during the worst season in program history, and Coach K's staff posted an ad for open tryouts. "I saw an ad in the paper for tryouts and my friends encouraged me to give it a shot," Singleton said. "I went out in early November with about 80 others and got to play a little. When they called me afterward to be pretty much a practice player, I couldn't believe it."