Gesicki closing in on more offers

2014 wide receiver Mike Gesicki of Manahawkin (N.J.) Southern Regional just finished off a very successful season. Now the big receiver, who has already picked up two offers, can focus a bit more of his attention to his recruiting process.

"Recruiting has been great," said Gesicki, who has offers from Rutgers and Boston College. "I've been in contact with a few coaches from different schools and it's beginning to pick up."

Coaches from Maryland and Wisconsin have recently stopped by the school to check on Gesicki, plus the junior has also spoken to coaches from Arizona State and Georgia Tech.

Gesicki believes that Maryland may be the next school to pull the trigger with an offer.

"I think that they have a nice upcoming program," he said. "I talked to the coaches and they are great people. They're making the move to the Big Ten, which is great."

While Gesicki would like to hit the road and take a few visits, he plays basketball during the winter and volleyball during the spring, which will make scheduling difficult. When more time becomes available, Gesicki has a few schools in mind that he would like to check out.

"Definitely Maryland, Wisconsin and Pitt, but I haven't really thought about it though," he said.

Once his school year concludes, Gesicki will once again turn his full attention to football.

"I'll be working out like crazy and getting faster," he said. "I want to prove to schools that I can play D1 wide receiver. Right now I'm 6-foot-6, 218 pounds and by June I want to be 236 pounds. I also want to drop my 40-yard dash by .2 seconds."

Gesicki's junior season recently ended with a state championship loss to Williamstown, however he learned a great deal during the last few months.

"After the first few games I realized how teams were covering me and defending me as an individual, so I knew that route-running and stemming my routes was key to getting open," said Gesicki. "I was able to make a lot more catches as the year went on and I ended up breaking the school record for catches in a season."

Gesicki, who finished the 2012 season with 50 receptions for 970 yards and ten touchdowns, explained in a little more detail how he was able to accomplish this.

"Last year was my first year playing wide receiver and I was just an athlete running to a spot and catching the ball," he said. "This year I understood how to lose a defender and stem a corner into thinking I'm going one way, then snap my route off the opposite way. I've always been able to catch the football, but this year I was able to get open much easier, even with the double and triple coverages."

One of the highlights of the season for Gesicki was his one-on-one battle with four-star cornerback Eli Woodard.

"I loved it," he said. "It was such great competition going against a defender of his talents. We went at it all night and I finished with three catches for 95 yards. I was able to prove to people that I can play wide receiver against D1 corners."