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Oh, Hello: NJ TE Mike Gesicki Commits to Penn State

Tight End U

By Nick Polak
Shutterstock

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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Mike Gesicki, ladies and gentlemen!

Stats:

Home/HS: Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional High School
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 236 lbs

Recruited by: Ron Vanderlinden and Jon Strollo

Starz 'n Sheetz:
Stars: 4* 247, 3* Scout, Rivals
Offer Sheet: Ohio State, Boston College, Bucknell, Colgate, UConn, Duke, FSU, Kansas, UMass, Miami, ODU, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Yale

Cinema:

The Tale:

Mike Gesicki is one of the best examples of a Bill O'Brien recruitment success story.  When Penn State offered Gesicki on May 19th, he immediately pointed out the Nittany Lions as one of his top contenders, thanks to O'Brien's reputation for incorporating tight ends into the offense.  Gesicki started off as a relatively under-the-radar prospect who quickly started shooting up the rankings as time went on.  Ohio State was long considered the team to beat in this race, due to his inclusion of them in his top group before even receiving an offer.  Gesicki visited Ohio State on multiple occasions, always leaving with positive things to say.  The general feeling seemed to be that Penn State was going to fall just short in this battle.

Gesicki was in Columbus a few weeks ago, on hand to see the Buckeyes take down the Badgers.  While he reportedly had a great time, he surely couldn't have been pleased with OSU's lack of tight end production in the game.  He visited Penn State this past weekend,  on hand to witness the 4 OT thriller against Michigan, which featured some huge plays from TE Jesse James.  Gesicki left campus with tons of positive things to say about the entire experience.  He was originally scheduled to make his decision tomorrow night, but it seems as if he felt now was the time to pull the trigger.

Hailing from the same high school as current Penn State linebacker Glenn Carson,  Gesicki also gave me one of the more mature, and enlightening quotes about Penn State after the sanction reductions: "That's huge for that program and the football family.  But that does not affect my Penn State decision.  I have seriously considered that program as a place for my destination before this came out, and it does not affect me and my choice."  I said at the time how lucky we would be if we were able to land someone with the maturity, and level-headedness of Mike.  And now we have.

Outlook:

When we were talking about this recruiting class pre sanction-reductions, the recruitment of Mike Gesicki seemed a little bit odd.  For a position that Penn State was so loaded in already, it seemed strange that they would take up one of those spots with someone who seemed to be an unnecessary luxury.  It soon became clear that Penn State was dealing with an elite athlete here, and the position surplus was not a problem at all.  Gesicki mentioned recently that in talking with coaches, they saw him as a hybrid between Jesse James and Kyle Carter /drools.

I would expect to see him taking the field sooner, rather than later for O'Brien's Lions.  As much fun as it is having Kyle Carter and Jesse James on the field at the same time, imagine having Gesicki and Breneman?  Two towering tight ends with the speed of wide receivers, matching up against linebackers?  I'm already excited just typing about it.

Mike brings the current class to 13, with plenty of space for more.  Let's see O'Brien just go off now, and steal Holley from OSU also.

Welcome to Penn State, Mike!


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