Benedictine alum Puccinelli brings discipline to Purdue [Video]

In the age of the transfer portal, NIL and social media, it’s easy for a Division I recruit to walk on campus as a freshman and think they’re the man.

Benedictine alum and Glen Allen native Luca Puccinelli made no such assumptions when he arrived at Wake Forest.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end who this past week announced his transfer to Purdue amid coaching turnover in Winston-Salem, N.C., credits that mature mindset to the culture instilled by Cadets coach Greg Lilly. 

“I want to thank Coach Lilly and (assistant) Coach (Kurt von Bargen) at Benedictine for helping me with all the discipline along the years,” Puccinelli said during a Monday interview after cleaning out his dorm and getting on the road to return to Richmond from Wake. 

“I think a lot of high schoolers coming out, they can have big egos, and they can walk on campus and think they’re the guy. Coach Lilly and Coach von (Bargen), …