Class of 2025 four-star linebacker DJ McClary, who was previously a longtime Penn State pledge, has flipped his commitment to home-state program Rutgers, he announced on Sunday.
McClary, who currently attends Henry Snyder High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, had been committed to the Nittany Lions since September of 2023.
He took an official visit to Rutgers during the weekend of May 31 and was on Penn State's campus for his official visit in Happy Valley during the weekend of June 14. However, McClary had an apparent change of heart about six months after the departure of Manny Diaz, who was previously McClary's main recruiter at PSU, but was hired as Duke's head coach in December of 2023.
McClary has now opted to stay home in New Jersey to play his college football under head coach Greg Schiano and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Harasymiak.
McClary ranks as the No. 6 player in the state of New Jersey and as the No. 11 inside linebacker in the 2025 class.
In addition to Penn State and Rutgers, McClary had scholarship offers from Boston College, Duke, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, USC, Virginia Tech and more.
As a junior for Snyder in 2023, McClary recorded 95 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble and a pick-six.
Rutgers continues to impress on the recruiting trail. McClary joins all-purpose running back John Forster and offensive tackle Jaelyne Matthews (both are fellow New Jersey natives) as the three current four-star commitments in the Scarlet Knights’ 2025 recruiting class.
This is a substantial flip for Rutgers to keep McClary in his home state and pull him away from a prestigious program such as Penn State. Rutgers now has two linebackers committed in the 2025 class, as McClary joins three-star North Carolina product Isaiah Deloatch.
McClary's pledge gives the Scarlet Knights a total number of 28 commitments in the 2025 cycle thus far. The Scarlet Knights rank in the top-10 in the national team recruiting rankings.
With McClary departing from Penn State's top-10 ranked class, the Nittany Lions currently have 16 pledges in the 2025 cycle. Head coach James Franklin and PSU still have two linebackers committed in four-stars Dayshaun Burnett and Alex Tatsch.
