THE SKINNY

Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 160 pounds

Hometown/High School: Bethlehem, PA (Liberty High School)

Ranking: ★★★★★ (No.1 Kicker in nation per Kohl’s Professional Camps)

Notable Offers: Army, Rutgers

HIGHLIGHTS

The Tale

Sahaydak is a name that’s been around a while in terms of Penn State’s pursuit and was a kicker that the Nittany Lions showed high interest in early in the 2021 recruiting class. The need to have considerable depth at the specialist positions as well as Sahaydak’s pure talent and coupled with him being a Pennsylvania native made him a valuable target for the program.

The Nittany Lions offered Sahaydak earlier this month after taking an unofficial visit on Feb. 1. Once offered, it was assumed that the Bethlehem native would most likely be a Nittany Lion in the future and less than two weeks later, he confirmed those suspicions with his commitment on Wednesday afternoon.

He becomes the third specialist to earn a scholarship and commit out of high school under James Franklin, joining Blake Gillikin and current place kicker Jake Pinegar.

Outlook

Sahaydak is the top-ranked kicker in the nation according to Kohl’s Kicking, which had the following to say about the PA prospect.

“Sahaydak competed well at the Eastern Showcase and the Underclassman Challenge in the winter of 2020. He has special leg speed and is very coordinated. He stood out at the Underclassman Challenge in both charting and in the competitions. His field goal height off the ground is D1 ready right now. Sahaydak can still improve technically and should be an early offer player from a Power Five school. His ability to hit field goals from 55-65 yards away make him different than others in his class.”

As the nation’s No. 1 kicker, Sahaydak will come to Happy Valley with high expectations surrounding him. Kickers can be very hit or miss (pun intended) when it comes to making the transition from high school to college ball. On paper, Sahaydak could very well be an immediate impact player in Happy Valley.