James Franklin: Teammates & staff are ’embracing’ the addition of Nolan Rucci

The Penn State football team added plenty of new faces this offseason. Not only from the recruiting trail but also from the transfer portal as well. The major theme between these new transfer portal additions is the recruiting connection in high school and even better if there is a legacy connection. If there was already an established relationship, it made sense for James Franklin to reconnect with a player. That’s exactly where Nolan Rucci found himself and he’s now wearing the blue and white ahead of the 2024 season.

James Franklin: Teammates & staff are ’embracing’ the addition of Nolan Rucci

Nolan Rucci made his commitment to the Penn State football team on January 6th, since then he has been adjusting to life at Penn State. The former Wisconsin Badger and former five-star prospect has big expectations this season. For many programs when adding a new player to the roster jealousy and frustration can stir in the locker room. But according to James Franklin that has not been the case at all with Nolan Rucci’s arrival.

During his media availability last week, Franklin said, “He’s [Nolan Rucci] been great. There’s a lot of excitement with the coaching staff and the strength staff. I know our players I hear them constantly from high school recuits as well as the transfer portal guys our current players do a really good job of embracing those guys and putting their arms around them and teaching them how we operate and how we do things around here…”

Rucci needs to add weight

It’s clear that Nolan Rucci is a tremendous athlete but he also stands at 6 foot 8 which makes adding weight a challenge. But if he is going to contribute in a meaningful way this season he will need the weight to help him survive the Big Ten schedule on the field.

Incoming 5⭐️ Transfer Nolan Rucci with some flow heading into spring practice #WeAre pic.twitter.com/s9FxmCcTOw

— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) February 17, 2024

James Franklin discussed Rucci’s weight. He said, “We’ve had a number of guys that have put on significant weight I think that was an issue for him [Nolan Rucci] early on. Especially, under the regime at Wisconsin that wanted to be massive. I think he got here at 299 I think he’s 305 right now. He’s still skinny because he’s all of 6’8. 6’8 isn’t always a positive if you can’t bend, but he can really bend he’s got tremendous athleticism…”

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