CHICAGO -- Jason Cabinda, Marcus Allen and Mike Gesicki weren't formally attached to Penn State football when the NCAA leveled historic sanctions against the program on July 23, 2012.
All three committed to Penn State in 2013 and signed the following February, weeks after an effervescent new coach named James Franklin took over. They don't remember the gloomy predictions for the program immediately after the sanctions came down: Worse than the death penalty ... won't recover until 2020 or 2022, at the earliest ... may never be the same.
Five years and one day later, the players arrived at Big Ten media days to represent the defending league champion.