LINCOLN — Niklas Sade's summer schedule has read off like a concert tour.

The kicking specialist went to camps at North Carolina, N.C. State, Maryland and Nebraska before committing to the Huskers.

He missed his chance to showcase his talents at LSU because of delays at the notoriously clogged airport in Atlanta. And to catch his breath lately, he's decided to cancel trips to Harvard and Columbia.

On this particular Thursday in July, he is supposed to be back at his Raleigh, N.C., home by 7 in the evening, though it might be a few minutes later if he decides to do a little extra technique work with his Charlotte-based position coach, Dan Orner. Plus, who knows if traffic will add some time to a drive that typically lasts 2½ hours? Dad never makes any guarantees.

Sade's high school coach, J.D. Dinwiddie, hasn't seen his star kicker in “like a month.” But Dinwiddie's not going to argue with Sade's mile-logging summer routine.

Sade (pronounced say-dee) is one of the nation's most highly rated kicking prospects, talented enough to earn a scholarship offer from the NU coaching staff eight months before February's signing day. Sade accepted that offer two weeks ago.

Pin-balling from campus to campus is what scholarship-seeking kickers have to do.

“I'm pretty sure he goes to like every kicking camp in the nation,” Dinwiddie said. “So I haven't seen him a lot this summer. His expectations are a little different. For him to get exposure, he has to (travel).”

Dinwiddie is just glad he'll get to rely on Sade this fall.

“He's a great weapon to have,” said the Wakefield High School coach. “He's got a bomb on the end of his foot there. He can boom it.”

Husker coaches got to see the 6-foot-3, 190-pound kicker firsthand last month.

At the Big Red Kicking Academy in June, Sade nailed a 57-yard field goal, his longest ever. Bo Pelini watched that kick from the sideline, but Sade didn't see the third-year NU coach until well after the football sailed through the uprights.

Sade can comfortably say he made a positive impression. “I was pretty happy when I left there,” he said.

Nebraska, which had shown interest two weeks prior, offered him a scholarship soon after. And Sade, aware of the tradition, at ease with the staff and enthused about a chance to play early, didn't hesitate long.

“I saw him one day, and he said he got offered by Nebraska and N.C. State,” Dinwiddie said. “The next day he said he was going to Nebraska.”

It's a necessary addition for the Huskers, since Adi Kunalic, the kickoff guru, and Alex Henery, the All-America candidate at punter and place-kicker, are both seniors heading into 2010.

Sade knows that. He'll be working on every facet of his game before he becomes a Husker next summer.

He already booted a kickoff a personal-best 80 yards at one camp. “It must have caught a little wind stream,” Sade said modestly.

But now that the recruiting process is complete, he can commit extra energy and time to perfecting his skills. Maybe those long-distance kicks will occur more frequently.

“That was the plan,” he said. “I've made my decision. Now I can improve on a daily basis. You try to work on new things, not kicking every day just to kick.”

For Wakefield High School this fall, Sade will handle field goals, kickoffs and punts. He said Nebraska's not recruiting him to punt at this point, though.

Sade is one of 13 players who've promised to join the Huskers' 2011 recruiting class.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

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