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Penn State missed out on the top-rated recruit in Pennsylvania in both the 2020 and 2021 cycles.
But while wide receiver Julian Fleming and offensive lineman Nolan Rucci began their college careers elsewhere in the Big Ten, they are now in line to finish them with the Nittany Lions.
The former five-star prospects didn’t have the success those rankings projected for them at Ohio State and Wisconsin, respectively, ultimately leading them to enter the transfer portal this winter.
After Fleming publicly committed to Penn State on Tuesday, Rucci followed suit on Saturday following a visit to Happy Valley.
“#WeAre Home,” Rucci wrote on social media along with an edit of him in a Penn State jersey.
It was the result coach James Franklin and his staff was hoping for three-plus years ago. Because while Fleming may have been the bigger recruit after winning three state championships at Southern Columbia, Rucci in some ways felt like the tougher recruiting loss.
After all, both of Rucci’s parents were standout athletes at Penn State. Father Todd was also an offensive line who went on to have a long NFL career with the New England Patriots. Mother Stacy was an All-American for the Lions field hockey team.
But Rucci’s older brother, Hayden, was a tight end who was playing for Wisconsin at the time, and Nolan ended up following him to Madison, announcing his decision in the summer of 2020 — one of many top targets Penn State missed out on during the height of the pandemic while being unable to host recruits.
The former Warwick star, though, didn’t play much for the Badgers in three seasons, taking a redshirt in 2021 and playing just three games in 2023. He didn’t get an extended look at tackle until earlier this week in Wisconsin’s loss to LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Rucci did, however, catch a game-winning touchdown in the final minute of an October matchup with Illinois on a play where he lined up as a tight end.
At 6-foot-8, Rucci has plenty of size to play tackle. He will have a chance to compete for a starting job for the Lions, who need to replace both tackles from this past season in All-American Olu Fashanu and veteran Caedan Wallace, both of whom are headed to the NFL.
Drew Shelton is the favorite to take over for Fashanu on the left side. There figures to be more of a battle on the right side, where true freshman Anthony Donkoh replaced Wallace after halftime in last week’s Peach Bowl.
As it is, Penn State’s 2024 roster will have the former top-ranked recruit in Pennsylvania from five straight years (2020-24).
Fleming and Rucci join running back Nick Singleton (2022, Governor Mifflin), offensive lineman J’ven Williams (2023, Wyomissing) and newly signed running back Quinton Martin (2024, Belle Vernon).
The spring semester starts Monday at Penn State with Fleming and Rucci set to join the team. Two others arriving from the transfer portal are edge rusher and Pittsburgh-area native Jordan Mayer (Wisconsin) and kicker Chase Meyer (Tulsa), who will battle Sander Sahaydak for the starting job.