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Top Penn State Recruiting Prospects Nolan Rucci, Ken Talley Set to Announce Commitments Tuesday

Tuesday will be an important recruiting day for Penn State, as top prospects Nolan Rucci and Ken Talley will announce their commitments.

Mark Wogenrich

Tuesday marks an important recruiting day for Penn State, as two prominent Pennsylvania players are scheduled to announce their commitments.

The headliner is Warwick High offensive lineman Nolan Rucci, a major prospect in the Class of 2021. Rucci has listed Penn State in his final five with Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan and Clemson.

In addition, Ken Talley a defensive end from Philadelphia's Northeast High, is announcing his 2022 commitment. Talley's top three are Penn State, Arizona State and Tennessee.

Rucci has been an intriguing and important player to Penn State's 2021 class for some time. He comes from a Penn State household. His father Todd was an offensive lineman at Penn State who became a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots. Todd Rucci also is a former member of Penn State's Board of Trustees.

Nolan Rucci's mother Stacy (Gilburg) Rucci was an All-American field hockey player at Penn State in the early 1990s who danced in THON. In a 2016 interview with Penn State Athletics, Stacy Rucci said one of her fondest memories of school is "meeting my husband in study hall my freshman year."

But Nolan Rucci has made the recruiting process uniquely his own. His brother Hayden plays for Wisconsin, making the Badgers a prominent contender. Nolan Rucci also has had to navigate recruiting without the benefit of official visits because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's a strange time to be a football recruit, that's for sure," he said on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast.

Rucci would be an important commit for Penn State's 2021 recruiting class, which lacks the best of Pennsylvania. Of the six in-state players named to SI All-American's SI99 list of the nation's best, five have committed elsewhere.

"Rucci looks excellent on the hoof and has some tools and traits to be developed," according to his SI All-American evaluation. "His size and length are ideal for an offensive tackle prospect, along with his competitiveness, decent body quickness and awareness on the edge. He also plays with a good feel for stunts and twists in pass protection. Rucci will need to improve his flexibility and strength and learn to play with a lower pad level. He has a chance to blossom if he gets with an offensive line coach that can properly develop him."

Talley, meanwhile, is a top-10 player in Pennsylvania's 2022 class, which Penn State is making a priority. The Lions already have commitments from two of the state's leading players: offensive lineman Drew Shelton and quarterback Beau Pribula.

Talley is a 4-star prospect, according to 247Sports, who has offers from Baylor, Boston College, Florida, Michigan and Michigan State, among many others.

Penn State has five commitments to its 2022 class, which 247Sports ranks third nationally.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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