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King's kicker picks Stanford

A rich blend of academics and athletics drives his decision.

By JOEL POILEY, Times Correspondent
Published February 8, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE 

King High kicker Daniel Zychlinski spoke often of his dilemma during this recruiting season.

A senior in the International Baccalaureate program, Zychlinski faced a pleasant problem in that his decision involved either attending an academic bastion such as an Ivy League school or playing for a Division I football school.

Zychlinski thinks he found the best of both worlds when he verbally committed to attend Stanford University in California.

After impressing Stanford recruiters at a recent tryout camp in Las Vegas, the 6-foot-3, 215- pound Zychlinski took a recruiting trip to the Palo Alto campus and his search ended.

"I absolutely loved it," Zychlinski said. "Basically, right now in the recruiting process and throughout the whole recruiting process, I've been looking for a perfect blend of academics and athletics, and Stanford is the answer to that."

Zychlinski was also impressed with Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh.

"I had breakfast with him my last day of the visit and I just love the energy that he brings to the game," Zychlinski said. "Especially since he's a brand new coach coming into his second year at Stanford after already coming off of upsets of the juggernauts like USC and Cal.

"He's young and he can relate with the players. I talked to most of the players, and they just love going to battle for him, so I'm glad that I'm going into an environment like that."

Stanford has a rich football tradition, with Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway among its luminaries. It has placed 23 players in the NFL the past six years.

Zychlinski's recruitment heated up in the past month.

Before, he had the most interest from Ivy League schools and Toledo. But with Stanford, Missouri, New Mexico and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas recently joining the sweepstakes, Zychlinski found himself with more options.

He averaged almost 41 yards on 33 punts this past season. He placed three of his five kicks in the end zone for touchbacks.

As a placekicker he converted 12 of 13 extra-point attempts and fourof six field goal attempts, with a 41-yarder his longest. His efforts made him a second-team all-Hillsborough County specialist and the ninth-ranked punter prospect in the country's senior class, according to Scout.com.

With the graduation losses of kicker Derek Belch and punter Jay Ottovegio, Zychlinski will seek to fill the specialist void for the Cardinal.

Zychlinski also excels in the classroom, carrying a 5.8 weighted grade-point average and scoring a 28 on the ACT. He plans to major in law.

[Last modified February 7, 2008, 07:42:44]