Princeton’s 2-sport star Horsted shines in football and baseball
PRINCETON » Jesper Horsted loves the deep ball.
Give the Princeton football team’s record-setting wide receiver one-on-one coverage and he’ll show you why he’s on the Walter Payton Watch List for the best player at the FCS level.
“That’s probably my favorite thing in all of sports,” Horsted said. “Running the deep ball.”
But in an age sport specialization at the youth level, Horsted is one of the few two-sport stars at the Division I level. When he’s not running pass routes in the fall, he’s tracking down fly ball as the baseball team’s center fielder in the spring.
“I didn’t know if it was necessarily going to be possible to do both in college, but I wanted to give it a chance,” said Horsted, who also played basketball at Roseville High in Minnesota. “When they said they would give me a chance to do it, I said, ‘yeah, why not?’ It’s been fantastic. I’ve been exposed to two very different teams and cultures on this campus.
“When I come back and I’m playing football again, my hand-eye (coordination) is better from last season in baseball because I’m seeing better pitching. They both improve each other and the cross-training is definitely a real thing. I’m a big advocate for it and it’s sad to see how much specialization is going on.”
Not only was Horsted an All-Ivy performer in football and baseball, he’s considered a pro prospect in both. When asked which one he’s leaning toward, the 6-4, 225-pound Horsted said he’s just looking forward to his senior year and “will cross that bridge when comes.”
Horsted set Princeton single-season records in receptions (92) and touchdowns (14) and led the Ivy League in receiving yards with 1,226. He needs 69 more receptions to equal Kevin Guthrie’s career record of 193, while 1,142 yards would match Deker Graham’s career mark of 2,798 yards.
In baseball, he slashed .324/.408/.390 with seven doubles and 14 RBIs in 36 games. He’s a .312 career hitter in 104 games.
In order to do that, it’s taken understanding from both teams.
“That could be a major problem if you have a coach that needs to see you yearround because that’s really not feasible,” Horsted said. “When we’re in the baseball season, we’re travelling so much. The (coaches) are doing an amazing job of trusting me that I know where I need to be when camp rolls around. Maybe they won’t see me every day or every week in the offseason, but they know when camp rolls around, I’m going to be ready to go.
The Tigers start their football season on Saturday evening (6 p.m., Facebook Live, WPRB 103.3 FM) when they travel to Butler for a first-ever meeting against the Bulldogs.
Horsted, who needs just four touchdown receptions to tie Graham’s record mark of 19, will certainly be a focal point of Princeton’s attack as will Stephen Carlson on the
Series History:
Last Time Out: Butler def. Taylor, 31-17 Background: This matchup may be more attractive on the hardwood than the gridiron, but nonetheless the Tigers get their 2018 season up and running by visiting the Hoosier State for the first time in program history. Princeton is looking for a fourth straight opening-day victory.
Show him some Lovett: Senior quarterback John Lovett takes over as the No. 1 after sitting out all of last season with a shoulder injury. Lovett won the Bushnell Cup in 2016 after he broke the program’s all-time touchdowns record by finding the end zone 20 times, while accounting for 31 total TDs (20 rushing, 10 passing, 1 receiving).
other side. Carlson caught 71 balls for 935 yards and 11 touchdowns and together the dynamic duo gives quarterback John Lovett, the 2016 Bushnell Cup winner who is returning from a shoulder injury, two big targets to aim for.
“In high school, I didn’t always have a great second receiver so that kind of allows the defense to focus on one of them and kind of take away what you’re able to do, but when you have someone like Steve, if you want to double cover me that’s fine because they’re going to get exposed by Steve,” Horsted said. “Or if they want to double cover him, then that’s fine. It really helps to have a balanced out wide receiver corps.”
Princeton averaged an astounding 38.2 points and 483 yards per game last season and Horsted sees no reason why that can’t continue.
“Even step it up a notch or two,” he said.