Official visit exceeds expectations for James Proche

Before there was Ben Hicks, Hunter Herndon, Kevin Thomas or Xavier Castille, there was James Proche. Proche is a Rivals three-star wide receiver from DeSoto High School. Proche is five feet, 11 inches and 185 pounds. He committed to SMU on June 4, 2014, which was before Chad Morris and even before Tom Mason took over for June Jones. He has become the face of SMU's 2015 class and he cannot wait to be on the Hilltop.

"My life is great. God's blessed me tremendously," Proche told the HillTopics about how he is feeling.

Proche came to visit again this past weekend alongside new SMU commits, K.T. (Kevin Thomas) and Xavier Castille.

"I talk to them a lot. I take credit for them being here actually," Proche said. "I know K.T. from school and me and Xavier played camps together all the time."

Being from Dallas, Proche had seen SMU before but not officially.

"The visit was great. It was really eye opening. I saw a lot of SMU that I hadn't gotten to see before. The campus was amazing. Ajee (Montes) hosted me but I hung out with Ben (Hicks) the most," Proche said. "I felt at home. Most times you start off quiet but we got there and we were laughing and joking off the bat."

The quarterback Hicks, who committed to SMU and started school this January, will be a prime contender for the starting position in Morris's new offense.

"Ben and I just clicked. It was like I had known him for years," Proche said. "He's a character; I saw a side of him I didn't expect and he's very funny."

The new Mustangs got to hangout with the coaches a lot more than they ever had before and Proche found that time to be invaluable.

"I love all the coaches, they are amazing. We kept it light and didn't talk about football too much. Just mostly about what we want to accomplish. We got to know them as people a lot and I respect them," Proche said.

As one of the earliest SMU commits, Proche was thrown into uncertainty about who would be coaching him for the next four years but he's already built a strong relationship with the SMU wide receiver coach Justin Stepp.

"Coach Stepp is probably my favorite wide receiver coach that I've ever had and he hasn't even coached me yet. I can tell that he is going to push me. I know I can come to him about anything and he's really smart. He has the same goals in mind that I have… We're basically the same person," Proche said.

SMU has picked up six wide receivers in the 2015 class and Proche says he already sees connections with the other players.

"K.T., Xavier, and I already have chemistry. We already made up touchdown handshakes and at the time they hadn't even committed yet," Proche said. "I see all of us being able to get playing time, we just have to work for it."

#StangGang Keep It Smoove pic.twitter.com/iLZkYWYBvZ- James Proché II (@JamesProche2) January 25, 2015

With such a talented 2015 class and all the changes happening with SMU football, the current Mustangs have to make room and have to adapt to the new vision for the team.

"The current players are very excited about us. Talking to them when I first committed versus talking to them now is really different," Proche said. "There's a new drive in them. They're ready for change and to do work."

For Proche, arriving on the Hilltop is just a few short months away and he can't wait to get started.

"I'm excited to get to school and to hopefully get into the Cox School of Business. That was my favorite part of the visit. Getting to talk to the professors and everything. I'm also really excited for this offense," Proche said. "Being called the face of the class is really special. I try to be a leader in everything that I do so that's great. When I committed, I knew God had a plan and I knew everything would work out for the best. I can't wait to see the look on people's faces when they see what SMU has started."