Australian Punter Sam Vander Haar Commits to BYU
BYU picked up its first transfer portal commitment of the recruiting cycle on Wednesday when Australian punter Sam Vander Haar committed to the Cougars. Vander Haar, who originally signed with Pitt where he played in 2022, entered the transfer portal after Spring ball last season.
Vander Haar won the starting punter job as a true freshman at Pitt before the 2022 season. He appeared in all but two games that season where he punted 30 times averaging 38.5 yards per punt.
Sam is a native of Melbourne, Australia. He was an Australian rules football player growing up, the he went on to work with the renowned ProKick Australia punting program. ProKick has produced some of the best punters in football, most notably NFL punters Mitch Wishnowsky, Michael Dickson, and Cameron Johnston. After training with ProKick, Vander Haar signed with the Pitt Panthers.
After Spring camp earlier this year, Vander Haar entered the transfer portal with three years of eligibility remaining. Since he didn't play this last year, he still has three years of eligibility remaining to play for BYU.
The Cougars might need to replace veteran punter Ryan Rehkow for the 2024 season. Rehkow, who was just named to the All-Big 12 second team, could test the NFL waters after this season. He has not announced his future plans, however.
Ironically, this is the second consecutive year that BYU's first transfer pickup has been a kicker. Last year, Boise State kicker Will Ferrin was the first transfer to commit to BYU. Ferrin went on to win the starting placekicking job. Ferrin was very good for BYU in 2023, he was consistent and he hit a long, game-tying field goal at the end of regulation against Oklahoma State to send the game to overtime.
This is the first of many transfer commitments for BYU.
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