In just five games, Oregon State has unearthed a budding superstar in the diminutive receiver who is taking the sport by storm. Legree trails only Jeremiah Smith in receiving yards nationally with 741 through five games. He debuted with 136 yards against Houston and topped that with 240 and two scores a week later against Texas Tech in a typical Pacific Northwest deluge.
He is tied with Smith in touchdowns and has done all his work on far fewer total receptions. For the Baltimore native who got his offer on Signing Day, Corvallis wasn't just off his radar before he got there. "I barely knew Oregon was a state," Legree joked to CBS Sports.
Now he's squarely on everyone's radar as Oregon State enters the teeth of conference play. How he arrived on the other side of the country is a story of the crossroads of circumstance, timing, a touch of desperation and a player who just needed a chance. That includes Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard and general manager Eron Hodges, who ultimately brought him out west.
Both men were working at Alabama last fall and cycled through Baltimore powerhouse St. Frances Academy looking for players. They were full at receiver, and even if they weren't, a three-star, generously 5-foot-10, 160-pound gadget player didn't exactly make sense.
Legree grew up in a basketball family. His older brother, Josiah, plays point guard at UTSA. His father, Jeffrey, is a JV girls' basketball coach and helps St.
Frances' football program with its mental health and player development. Jesse originally started playing football to stay in shape for basketball and played defensive back at his first high school, Loyola Blakefield. But after switching schools and positions heading into his senior season, he showed up at St.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
