Wisconsin Badgers Former 5-Star OL Transfer Stays in the Big Ten

It didn’t take long for former Wisconsin Badgers five-star offensive tackle Nolan Rucci to land on his feet and find a new football program to finish his career after entering the transfer portal.

Rucci, a Pennslyvania native, announced on social media that he was returning home to join the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten.

#WeAre Home. pic.twitter.com/ZClxPmGYNT

— Nolan Rucci (@nolanrucci) January 6, 2024

Starting left tackle Jack Nelson announced he would return to the Wisconsin football team during bowl prep, and his brother Hayden Rucci chose to forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft. That paved the way for the 6-foot-8, 300-pound left tackle to pursue another opportunity with his final two years of eligibility.

Wisconsin Football OT Nolan Rucci Commits to Penn State 

Recruiting is a crap shoot. At least in recent memory, two of the highest-rated recruits in the history of the Wisconsin Badgers football program were Nolan Rucci and Logan Brown. Neither of them panned out for UW. 

Overall, Rucci played just 70 offensive snaps during his Wisconsin career, including a career-high 35 snaps in the ReliaQuest Bowl against LSU that allowed him to put some game reps on tape. 

Pro Football Focus gave Rucci a 76.2 grade this past season, which is considered high quality by their grading metric. Personally, I’ll never forget his game-winning touchdown against Burt Bielma and the Illinois Fighting Illini. 

The Wisconsin Badgers new offensive line coach will have plenty of work to do in order to re-establish their room’s depth in the two-deep following the departures of Rucci, Dylan Barrett, and Trey Wedig. 

It’s also worth mentioning that Wisconsin football faces Penn State this coming season at Camp Randall Stadium on October 26. 

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