Ricky Slade’s highly anticipated career at Old Dominion is over before it began.
The former five-star running back, who transferred from Penn State in June, is no longer on the team, coach Ricky Rahne confirmed Wednesday. The 5-foot-9, 198-pound Slade, who began the 2019 season as Penn State’s starter and later lost the job, has been removed from the roster on ODU’s website.
A school spokesman declined to say why Slade, who never played a down for ODU, had left.
In joining the Monarchs, who didn’t play in 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns, Slade was reunited with Rahne, formerly the Nittany Lions’ offensive coordinator and now ODU’s head coach.
“Ricky Slade is no longer a member of our football program,” Rahne said in a statement to The Virginian-Pilot. “We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
A native of Woodbridge, Slade was the highest-rated recruit to come to ODU since the school revived the football program in 2009.
Slade carried 47 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns in 2019 for Penn State.
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com
