Last spring, ace Penn State football photographer Joe Hermitt and myself had the pleasure of getting to know Nittany Lions standout offensive guard John Urschel

for the 2012 Pride magazine, a yearly labor of love dedicated to all things Penn State football.

This was the spring before Urschel's breakout season playing for Bill O'Brien, a 2012 season in which Urschel was named first-team All-Big Ten.

I bet if you asked Joe Hermitt about John Urschel he would tell you what I'm about to -- that Urschel has been one of my favorite Penn State players to cover (I've been on the beat since 2002).

The senior-to-be is just a unique young man. He's a self-made college star who worked very hard in strength coach Craig Fitzgerald's offseason conditioning program to get ready for 2012.

He was also a team leader, chosen by O'Brien to represent PSU along with Michael Mauti and Jordan Hill during the Big Ten meetings late last July.

You ask Urschel a question, you get a direct, detailed answer. And he has opinions on everything.

He also happens to be a mathematics genius.

Seriously.

Urschel graduated early with a mathematics degree and has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average. That's right, nothing but "As' for Big John. At one point last spring, I asked John if he had ever received a 'B' in a class. He couldn't remember any.

And today on his

Twitter account, (@mathmeetsfball) Urschel revealed he has had a paper published online and in print in the journal, Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy.

The title of Urschel's paper? "Instabilities of the Sun-Jupiter-Asteroid Three Body Problem".

And congratulations to you, John. I'm sure it is the first of many great papers you will publish in mathematics.