Nolan Rucci (born August 5, 2002) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

. He previously played for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

Early life and high school

Rucci attended Warwick High School. He was rated as a five-star recruit, the 5th best offensive tackles, and the 14th overall prospect in the class of 2021. Rucci committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

over offers from school such as Clemson, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Washington.

College career

Wisconsin

After taking a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

season in 2021, Rucci played in three games for the Badgers in 2022. In week 8 of the 2023 season, he caught the game-winning touchdown on a trick play to help the Badgers beat

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. During the 2023 season, Rucci appeared in three games for the Badgers including playing most of the snaps in the team's bowl game due to an injury to starter Jack Nelson. After the season, Rucci entered his name into the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

Penn State

Rucci transferred to play for the

Personal life

Rucci is the son of former NFL offensive lineman

Todd Rucci Todd Rucci (born July 14, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for eight seasons with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) from 1993 to 2000. He played college football for the Penn ...

, and All-American field hockey player Stacey Rucci. He also played with his brother Hayden at Wisconsin for three seasons.

References

External links

Penn State Nittany Lions bioWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rucci, Nolan 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football offensive tackles Penn State Nittany Lions football players Wisconsin Badgers football players