Mike Gesicki had a feeling he might someday play college athletics. His first decision was choosing which sport it would actually be. A three-sport varsity athlete all four years of high school, the 6’6, 235 pound senior wide receiver ultimately decided he would play football, and he would play at Penn State.
“I knew I would have the opportunity to play college football during my sophomore season,” Gesicki said. “A coach from the University of Delaware sat down with me and talked with me. I told him I had only been playing football for two years, and only played wide receiver for a few games. He told me if I kept working hard and setting goals I would have the chance to be successful and the sky was the limit for my potential”
As a junior, Gesicki helped lead Southern to the NJSIAA South Group V state championship game. He finished the season with school records for receptions in a season (50), receiving yards in a season (950) and touchdowns in a season (10).
Basketball is what he played his entire life, volleyball is what he picked up for fun during his freshman year – and went on to be a state champion and state player of the year –but football is where his true passion and athleticism thrives. He received offers for all three sports, but football is what generated the most interest and what he was most interested in.
“The most difficult part of the process was telling coaches thank you, but no thank you,” said Gesicki. “I had 22 full scholarship offers and I had to tell 21 coaches no thank you, and doing that was very difficult.”
That’s quite the problem to have. As stressful as it may have been, he wouldn’t change it for anything.
“The recruiting process has been the best 14 months of my life,” Gesicki said. “The ultimate feeling of being wanted by so many great schools and programs is so great. The entire experience has been phenomenal.”
After visits to schools including Stanford, Yale, Auburn, Florida State, Miami, Maryland, Ohio State, and obviously Penn State, it would have been easy to become distracted from high school responsibilities, but that wasn’t the case.
“Recruiting takes place at a different time than my sports. From 2:15 to 5:15 when I’m practicing I am all about Southern Regional and getting better,” Gesicki said.
“My only goals right now are to finish out my high school career in football, basketball, and volleyball strong and healthy and continue to work hard in the classroom. When the time comes, I will begin the next phase of my life and career at Penn State.”
Gesicki narrowed down his list of schools from 22 to two. It was between Penn State and Ohio State and no one knew what he was leaning towards, not even Gesicki himself.
“I can’t put my finger on what exactly the deciding factor was in my decision, “said Gesicki. “The race was so close and they are two great programs but I just followed my heart and my gut and they both told me Penn State. I ended up making my decision about 24 hours before I announced it publicly.”
Gesicki has been labeled the number one tight end recruit in the nation without ever playing a down at the position. The label has attracted a lot of attention and a lot of doubt, especially among fan bases from the schools that lost out on him.
“I will work harder than anyone to make my dreams a reality,” Gesicki proclaimed. “I hope all that doubt me live long enough to watch me succeed.”
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