The third player of the 2012 Penn State recruiting class was South Allegheny TE Jesse James. James committed last March, and was the only member of the 2012 class to enroll early. He is rated as a three star prospect by all of the major scouting services.
Physically, James is already a big kid at 6'7"/245, but after a year or two with a proper nutrition and workout program, he should be able to add a good amount of muscle that frame. Some of the scouting services think that he may be best suited to move to the offensive line, but he'd need to add somewhere north of 40 pounds in order to do that.
In the aftermath of The Thing, James' commitment to Penn State never wavered.
"I'm just getting ready to go up there in January, getting my body ready to go through spring practices and be ready to play next season," James said.
So yeah, he sounds like a good kid that wanted to go to Penn State for Penn State. For what the 2012 class lacks in star power, it appears to be packed with high character kids that weren't scared of a challenge. Hopefully there will be some diamonds in the rough. Whether one of them is James remains to be seen, but lord knows a contributing tight end would be a sight for sore eyes around these parts. It's unclear what we can expect from James in the short term. If he stays at tight end, the opportunity for early playing time will be there, as between Kevin Haplea and Garry Gilliam, there are no real proven commodities at the position.
And now for your viewing pleasure, the highlight reels: