Blue White Illustrated

T H E M O N T H I N . . . "You can see," James Franklin said while sharing his vision after Penn State's prac- tice on Wednesday night, "the evolution in the players." Minutes later, as if on cue, Mike Gesicki jogged past 40 reporters. And the senior tight end kept on running, as he does after almost every practice — winter, spring, summer and fall. Gesicki ran until he stopped at a five-man blocking sled at the edge of Penn State's artifi- cial turf practice field. This is his ritual. This is what Michael William Gesicki of Manahawkin, New Jersey, does. We have seen him do it at almost every media availability the past two years. That is when he is not throwing and catching a football with other tight ends, wide receivers and/or quarterbacks. ... There may be no one on the 2017 roster who has been more evolutionary during his time at Penn State than Mike Gesicki. He also might have been the most revolutionary player for Penn State in 2016. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM There are plenty of teams who could make jumps [in the Big Ten] next season, but the Nittany Lions have the chance to take the biggest leap. Payton Banks trans- ferring hurts them a little bit, but if Pat Chambers can continue to develop Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins, look out. The Nittany Lions could also use a good shooter to space the floor and another rebounder to clean the glass, as they ranked near the bottom of the conference in field goal percentage and re- bounding margin. Shore up those deficiencies, and Penn State is primed to pull off a Minnesota-like emergence. ALEX ROUX BTN.COM "I'm sure in time the seniors will look back on this season with a lot of fondness," Coach Guy Gadowsky said next to a visibly emotional Ricky DeRosa [following Penn State's 6-3 loss to Denver in the NCAA tournament]. They better — and so should Gadowsky. Twenty years from now, they'll look back on this season as the one that changed Penn State hockey. SARA CIVIAN ONWARD STATE Everyone is trying to show Coach Hu: and Coach Franklin that they can be that guy, so everyone is pushing each other. ... The room is so competitive. The love that we have for each other is just so impressive. We go from being brothers and best friends to when we're on the 9eld, we're trying to make sure this guy doesn't get this extra rep or something like that. SAQUON BARKLEY It's been an honor to work with him and coach him. I think Penn State was the per- fect place for Shane to come and have a tremendous career. We'll see what's ahead for him. I think on a world level that his best swimming is yet to come. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in Tokyo in 2020, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him swim in the final heat there. He's represented Penn State well in a lot of different ways. TIM MURPHY PSU swimming coach, on four-time All-American Shane Ryan People underestimate the power of positive energy, body language & PAS- SION! Does he LOVE the game or just like it? JAMES FRANKLIN T W E E T S O P I N I O N S Q U O T E S role, and expectations were high, as he received preseason second-team All-Big Ten recognition from Phil Steele. But that excitement quickly dissipated when he su:ered an ACL tear in his le; knee in the season opener at Temple. Wartman-White spent much of the next 11 months in the training room, where he worked himself back into con- tention for a starting spot in 2016. He looked good in Penn State's 9rst two games, making 9ve tackles against Kent State and nine against Pitt, including a career-high three tackles for loss. But when the Lions met Temple in week three, Wartman-White went down again with a noncontact injury, this time to his right knee. Ruled out for the sea- son, he headed to the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Fla., where renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews performed reconstructive surgery. The operation went well, and so did the recovery. At pro day, Wartman- White was able to participate in all of the linebacker drills, as well as the bench press. "I'm amazed by how far I came. Five months out? The stu: I did today, you couldn't have paid me a million dollars to do it on my knee back then," he said. Wartman-White said his le; leg is back at full strength, and his right leg is coming along. He attributes his speedy recovery to the hard lessons he's learned about how to take care of himself. "I learned a lot of things about how to preserve your body. I became more knowledgeable about my body and what I need to do to it," he said. "Last time, I ate a lot, I drank. This time, I didn't touch al- coholic drinks. Nothing. I stayed clean, ate clean, and my body feels amazing." Wartman-White said he still believes he can play in the NFL. The goal now is to convince teams to look past his injury history and focus on his potential. "Whoever is taking me, I guarantee they're getting a steal," he said. "I have a mindset [concerning] this injury and the way I'm working. I just know that my ceiling has not yet been reached. As long as I stay healthy, that ceiling is just going to still be there until my playing career is over." – NATE BAUER

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