Recapping WR Kaden Saunders's path to Penn State

Penn State fans, the following story will appear in Blue White Illustrated’s upcoming Class of 2022 recruiting magazine. It mails Feb. 25 and features over 70 pages of analysis, bios and superlatives on the most recent class. Preorder today at BlueWhiteOnline.com for just $8 before it rises to $12 on Monday.

First impressions can often go a long way. That’s not just true in recruiting, but really life in general. For wide receiver Kaden Saunders and his family, the first time they met with Penn State head James Franklin was something they’ll never forget. 

Back in March 2019, it was clear that Saunders was on a different level, but he was also still just a freshman. Film from football and baseball, combined with track and field times, allowed schools to see skills in a variety of ways, but it was still very early. Why rush it?

However, Franklin and his staff already knew Saunders was going to be special. Their mindset was just the opposite. Why not go all-in right away?

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“When he initially met with us for the first time in his office, which at the time was just me and Kaden, he had a plan laid out for how Kaden could potentially play baseball and football in college, graduate with a degree in three-and-a-half years, and then get an advanced degree in his fourth year,” said Anthony Saunders, Kaden’s father. “So, for a head coach to take that kind of interest in a kid, who was just a freshman in high school at the time, said a lot to us. That ended up just being a precursor to the relationship we built with him. It’s always been about more than football with Franklin.”

Penn State was actually the second school to offer Saunders, as Michigan State offered a few weeks prior. Within weeks, Indiana, Michigan, Pitt and West Virginia would all follow the Nittany Lions. By the time his sophomore season was ready to begin, it was clear to everyone that he was going to be highly coveted.

But by the end of 2019, it was also becoming clear that Penn State had put themselves in an excellent position. After two more visits during the 2019 season, Saunders had totaled more than 40 hours of travel just to one school. That’s a lot for an underclassmen who couldn’t sign for two more years.

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He and his family’s aggressiveness early in the process proved to be a good decision in retrospect, as the COVID-19 pandemic would shut everything down the following spring. Both Michigan and Notre Dame had also gotten Saunders on campus twice by that point, but come June 2020, it became clear that on-campus visits weren’t going to be starting up again anytime soon. With the Nittany Lions firmly in the lead, Saunders wound up committing in July 2020. He was Penn State’s first in the Class of 2022. 

“I wanted to help get this class going, so it was an easy decision to decide when I did,” Saunders said previously. “My whole family was onboard with Penn State from the very beginning. I loved the coaches, loved the area, loved the people I met. They were the clear favorite for me.”

Saunders ended up earning over two dozen scholarship offers overall. A late push from Nick Saban and his staff at Alabama admittedly gave him something to think about last spring, but after being reminded of how important his leadership is to the class, Saunders wanted to let Penn State fans know that he wasn’t going anywhere.

That’s how the “107% Locked In” recruiting graphic was born. 

“I just knew where I wanted to be. Penn State always felt like home to me,” Saunders said. “The staff cares about me genuinely. I feel like they’ll always take care of me well when I get there. They’ve always made it clear that I’m a priority to them, so that made this easy for me. I knew where I wanted to be.”

Saunders finished at No. 101 nationally in the On3 Consensus. He’s the 17th-ranked wide receiver and the fifth-ranked player in Ohio.