Pitt punter Sam Vander Haar enters NCAA transfer portal
Punter Sam Vander Haar, who spent one season at Pitt, has announced his intention to transfer, according to FarrellSports’ Mike Farrell.
Vander Haar, who turns 26 on Thursday, is a native of Melbourne, Australia, where he played Australian rules football and attended the well-known Prokick Australia program that has produced many collegiate and NFL punters.
Pittsburgh P Sam Vander Haar entered the transfer portal; he averaged 38.6 yards on 31 punts in 2022 @SamVanderhaar pic.twitter.com/ev8WUdeI9E
— FarrellPortal (@farrellportal) May 1, 2023
In his first season playing college football in the U.S., Vander Haar averaged 38.5 yards on 30 punts and placed 11 inside the 20, with 10 fair catches and one touchback. His longest punt traveled 53 yards in Pitt’s opener against West Virginia.
Vander Haar was on scholarship last season, but he did not attempt a punt in Pitt’s spring game April 15. Meanwhile, walk-ons Caleb Junko, a redshirt sophomore, and junior Jeff Yurk, a transfer from Elon, competed for the job.
Junko played in seven games last season, averaging 48.7 yards on 12 punts, including an 85-yarder that set a Sun Bowl and collegiate bowl record, plus a new standard at Pitt.
Yurk averaged 41 yards in two seasons at Elon.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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