Saquon Barkley is the type of running back who creates lasting images.

His 79-yard touchdown run in the Rose Bowl. His juggling touchdown catch against Michigan. His reaction to earning a Rutgers scholarship offer.

Not familiar with that last one?

"I spent eight years at Rutgers working in recruiting, and I don't remember seeing any kid more grateful to receive a Rutgers offer," former recruiting assistant Sopan Shah said. "He was legitimately happy. He came back later with his parents and committed strongly to us."

In the summer of 2013, Whitehall High School (Pa.) finished in the top four at the highly competitive 7-on-7 Team Passing Camp hosted by Rutgers.

Coming off a sophomore season in which it took a teammate's injury for him to become Whitehall's starter, Barkley's game film was limited.

But coach Brian Gilbert tipped off Norries Wilson -- Rutgers running backs coach and a Pennsylvania area recruiter under then-boss Kyle Flood -- to take a closer look at the camp.

"Coach Wilson was watching Saquon all day," said Gilbert, a Freehold native. "After the games we got called into Coach (Flood's) office, and when he offered Saquon, you should've seen the look on his face. Neither one of us expected it. At that time, he was just starting to understand he could be a pretty good player."

Barkley surged past "pretty good player" long ago. He is a Heisman Trophy candidate -- maybe the front-runner -- for his dazzling play at ... Penn State.

NJ Advance Media researched the story of how Rutgers discovered the best running back in college football, earned his commitment and ultimately lost him to Penn State, which is not making Barkley available to the media this week.

"I wanted to play for Rutgers growing up. That's the school I wanted to play at," Barkley told NJ Advance Media in 2016. "But I felt like Penn State provided more opportunity for me for the rest of my life. Sometimes you have to grow up and make decisions that are going to impact your life."

Whitehall athletics director Bob Hartman remembers Barkley walking the halls as "just another very high good high school athlete." He credits Penn State's staff with ushering Barkley's transformation into "the model student-athlete," but has wondered how things would've played out in an alternative universe at Rutgers.

"He was a kid who was not really self-confident," Hartman said. "He had to work until the day he graduated, academically. Things didn't come easy. He is doing it now academically because he can. He's always been intelligent and well thought-out and well spoken. It's just a matter of embracing those skills."

Living up to a Big Ten offer

Barkley stayed silently committed to Rutgers for about a month entering his junior year. He finally revealed his verbal pledge on Sept. 7, 2013, after meeting with Flood following a 38-0 victory against Norfolk State.

"When they first started recruiting me, it was my dream school," Barkley said at the time. "I loved the coaches, I loved the offensive style, and I just thought I would fit in well. They made me feel like I was home."

Barkley, 20, grew up in a rough neighborhood in the Bronx and moved to Pennsylvania in 2001. He didn't grow up engulfed in the Penn State fanaticism that sweeps across the state or even dreaming of playing major college football.

Earning a Rutgers scholarship offer was his turning point.

"I think it motivated him even more," Gilbert said. "That's the type of person Saquon is. When you give him something to achieve or something that motivates him, he won't stop until he gets it.

"Once he got that offer, he was like, 'Wow, I better live up to that status,' whereas most kids would pound their chest and say, 'I just got a Division I offer. I must be pretty good.'"

Rutgers recruiting was on a roll at the time, building a 2014 class that seemed destined for a Top 25 national ranking as the program entered the Big Ten. Barkley was the foundational first commitment in the 2015 class.

"Barkley committed to Rutgers because he and his family did not fully understand the recruiting process, and because he felt comfortable with the program and it was close to home," 247Sports national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn said. "He was committed before many programs knew about him, and he built a trust with the coaching staff."

Wilson declined an interview request through a school official at Minnesota, where he is director of player development. Flood has not returned several messages from NJ Advance Media since he was fired in December 2015.

"He hadn't played much, but he showed a lot of the physical tools that he is displaying now," Shah said. "We had a feeling this was a guy we were going to offer just based on the physical ability that he had.

"Our strategy always was to get on guys early. We had a pretty good track record in terms of being the first to offer some really good players. Saquon was no exception."

If Flood wasn't fully sold on pulling the trigger, Gilbert wasn't surprised when Barkley unwittingly sealed the deal with his "genuine personality."

"You hear stories about kids that work so hard to try to get an offer," Gilbert said. "Saquon wasn't working to get an offer. He was working to get himself better. That came out of the blue, really."

But the 2014 recruiting class crumbled under the weight of 13 de-commitments, blowout losses and verbal abuse allegations against an assistant coach.

Still, Barkley publicly reaffirmed his 2015 commitment to Rutgers as late as December 2013 -- and he wasn't paying lip service.

Barkley sat on the loveseat sofa in Hartman's office when then-Penn State coach Bill O'Brien offered a scholarship in the fall of 2013.

"I had (O'Brien) on speaker and he made him an offer, and Saquon said, 'Coach, I appreciate that. But right now I'm committed to Rutgers,'" Hartman recalled. "He said all the right things."

'Going against my word'

The first of two things that contributed to Barkley's change of heart happened Oct. 13, 2013.

With the four-star recruit on an unofficial visit and 107,844 fans participating in a stadium White-Out, Penn State upset Michigan in four overtimes.

"Monday morning he was back in my office like, 'I don't know what to do. That was the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life,'" Hartman said. "He was conflicted -- as high school kids can be."

Word reached Flood, who cut short a Rutgers practice to check in on Barkley at Whitehall.

"His flip to Penn State was suspected," said Dohn, who was the first to rate Barkley with four stars, "but he took his time and did not want to overshadow the (recruiting) class before him. It was also well-timed because it gave Penn State immediate momentum in his class."

Then, on Jan. 11, 2014, Penn State hired coach James Franklin to replace the NFL-bound O'Brien. The brash Franklin quickly stormed recruiting and first victimized Rutgers for the flipped commitment of Manalpan's Saeed Blacknall.

Unlike a decade earlier, Rutgers couldn't keep Barkley's fast-rising profile under wraps the way it did under-recruited Mohamed Sanu or Devin McCourty. Barkley had an eye-popping junior season, but the cover already was blown.

"When other teams think a guy is talented enough to play for (their) Power Five school, it opens up your eyes," Shah said. "At the same time, it would make no sense to not offer because of that. If a guy is good enough and you want him on your roster, you go after him. You can't try to play that game."

Barkley announced his flip on Feb. 19, 2014, midway through his junior year. Franklin tapped him to lead the movement to keep in-state recruits home.

"I don't care if I have to come to your house and slap you in the head," Barkley told SI.com of Franklin's recruiting pitch, "but you have to play for Penn State. You have no say."

Barkley broke the news to Wilson from the athletic trainer's office at Whitehall.

"Saquon didn't want to make that call," Gilbert said. "He asked if I would do it. I said, 'These coaches hear this all the time. Coach Wilson cares about you.'

"He's a pleaser. He doesn't want to let anybody down. He wants people to depend on him and rely on him and he wants his word to be solid. That was really tough on him."

It might have been tougher on Barkley's parents, who were Rutgers fans and favored Piscataway as the No. 1 destination for their son, according to Gilbert.

"It was one of the hardest things I've had to do," Barkley told NJ Advance Media in 2016. "I felt like I was going against my word, and that's something that my family raised me on. They felt like we were going against our word, too. But we had to look at the bigger picture."

'Bigger picture'

With four games left in his junior season -- almost sure to be his last before the NFL -- Barkley needs 497 rushing yards to become Penn State's all-time leader. That doesn't account for his receiving or kickoff return contributions.

Barkley has become the face of Penn State's resurgence, climbing out of NCAA sanctions and to No. 2 in the national polls before back-to-back season-altering losses.

"It sounds too simple to be true," Gilbert said, "but he did it the old-fashioned way: Really just outworked everybody. He is 100 percent football. It's not part-time for him. It's full-time."

During Penn State's bye week, Barkley tried to watch Whitehall's road game on a Friday night. He had to be escorted back to his car by security because his celebrity put him in danger with overzealous fans wanting a photo, an autograph or a piece of stardom, according to Hartman.

"He doesn't know how to say no, but he needs to learn," Hartman said. "I hope people around here can appreciate his privacy and not try to capitalize on his fame and ability. Those challenges are what's in front of him."

Rutgers coach Chris Ash has seen up close Ezekiel Elliott, Melvin Gordon and other NFL running backs at previous stops. He rattles off Barkley's skills -- strength, balance, reliable hands, change of direction in the open field -- like the list never ends.

Barkley has 287 rushing yards and three touchdowns in two career games against Rutgers, including one when when Wilson was interim head coach for a suspended Flood.

"You never want to say that a particular player is as good as you've ever seen," Ash said, "but I'd say he probably is."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.