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Published Jun 23, 2024
Four-Star LB DJ McClary flips from Penn State to Rutgers Football
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Alec Crouthamel  •  TheKnightReport
Staff Writer
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@aleccr12

Rutgers Football has added another piece to its 2025 recruiting class, successfully flipping four-star linebacker DJ McClary from Penn State. McClary is a top-10 player in the state of New Jersey and is now the highest-rated commit in the Scarlet Knights' 2025 class.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker had verbally committed to the Nittany Lions in September, but began to look elsewhere following former Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz - McClary's main recruiter - took the head coaching job at Duke.

McClary plays for Snyder High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, and becomes the second former Nittany Lions commit to later change to Rutgers, joining a fellow four-star in offensive lineman Jaelyne Matthews.

McClary first picked up an offer from the Scarlet Knights in April of 2022 following his freshman year of high school, when he was originally recruited by former defensive line coach Marquise Watson. Defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak has since taken over in his recruitment, and obviously did a great job in being able to flip McClary.

Despite Penn State having a recruiting practice similar to Rutgers discouraging official visits to other schools while committed, McClary chose to schedule his official visit with the Scarlet Knights for the opening weekend of June. He described his visit as a major success as the staff looked to flip him that weekend.

McClary decided to take one more visit - an official one - to the Nittany Lions on June 14th to fully make up his mind. New defensive coordinator Tom Allen took over McClary's recruitment from Diaz and his visit to State College did go well, but he ultimately still decided to flip to Rutgers.

On the field, McClary projects as an off-the-ball linebacker with tremendous athleticism as he continues to grow into the position. He has continued to put on size and his frame projects nicely for the next level as well. The Scarlet Knights have done great work in developing linebackers especially in recent years, and with McClary's attributes as a young linebacker, there is a chance he sees the field earlier rather than later as a Scarlet Knight.

With McClary's commitment, Rutgers' 2025 class grows to a whopping 28 recruits, as they remain in the top 8 nationally in Rivals' Team Rankings. He becomes second linebacker in the class alongside Isaiah Deloatch and joins RB John Forster (Saddle Brook), WR Sah'nye Degraffenreidt (Atlantic City), WR Michael Thomas III (Sayreville), OL Chris Vigna (Glen Ridge), OL Jaelyne Matthews (Toms River), Jayden Elijah (Matawan) and DB Renick Dorilas (Union) as commits from the Garden State.

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