Zucco attended Plum Township High School in Unity, Pennsylvania, earning back-to-back Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph All-Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) Class B honors in his junior and senior seasons.

[3][4] Zucco was convinced to attend Wayne State University by Dick Brown, a former quarterback on the football team who had transitioned into a role on the coaching staff.

[5] At Wayne State, Zucco won two letters in football and one in track and field.

[6][7] Due to Big Ten Conference rules, he was forced to sit out the year and instead spent the season with the scout team.

This biographical article relating to an American football defensive back born in the 1930s is a stub.