Former Ohio State Receiver Julian Fleming Transferring to Penn State
Julian Fleming, the former Ohio State receiver who played high school football about 90 minutes from Beaver Stadium, is transferring to Penn State for his final season of eligibility. Fleming announced his decision Wednesday, becoming the most high-profile player Penn State has attracted from the NCAA Transfer Portal and completing a high-profile recruiting circle that began five years ago. Fleming told On3's Hayes Fawcett of his decision.
Fleming was the nation's top-ranked receiver of the 2020 recruiting class, and the No. 1 player in Pennsylvania according to 247Sports, when he famously committed to Ohio State. At the time, Fleming cited his relationship with then-Ohio State receivers coach Brian Hartline as a key reason for choosing the Buckeyes. He also said that turning down Penn State, which had recruited him aggressively, was among the most difficult calls he had to make.
"It was definitely tough to say no to Penn State, just for the fact they’re right down the road and I’ve been there over 20 times," Fleming told reporters at his May 2019 commitment ceremony. "I had a real good relationship with them. It started early. So it did hurt a little bit saying no to them. They were a little hurt by it. But telling Penn State no was definitely the one that stung the most, I’d say.”
Penn State and Fleming revived their relationship after Fleming entered the portal Dec. 4, closing an Ohio State career that didn't go as planned. Fleming caught 79 passes for 963 yards and seven touchdowns in four seasons at Ohio State. He also dealt with multiple shoulder injuries that hindered his progress. Before this season, Fleming said he was healthy. He finished the regular season with 26 catches for 270 yards and no touchdowns.
"There were definitely some issues with my shoulders, and I dislocated them a bunch of different times you probably never knew about. But it just kind of happened," Fleming told reporters in August in Columbus, according to Eleven Warriors. "You pop it back in and you keep going. So hopefully with some screws and everything going on in there, that’ll stay in place and we’ll be good to go.”
Fleming, who played at Pennsylvania power Southern Columbia High, journeyed through one of the state's most visible recruiting processes before committing to Ohio State. Penn State always was in the mix, and Fleming admitted to nearly choosing to Clemson before ultimately committing to Ohio State. Fleming, the nation's highest-ranked receiver of the 2020 recruiting class, also was ESPN's No. 1 overall prospect in the country.
"Julian Fleming had an unbelievable high school career, comes in highly decorated, but he's a great young man," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said of Fleming on Signing Day in 2019. "His family is awesome. His mom Betsy and his grandfather Mick and all of them, they're really going to help support him while we're here. That was a hard decision for him to leave Pennsylvania to come here, but he's going to have a great career here, and we think that he has a chance to be a great one."
At his signing ceremony, Fleming made some interesting comments about Penn State and his concerns regarding the program. Among them, he thought the coaching staff had been "unstable." Fleming also heard from people outside his family about attending Penn State.
"Everybody always felt like they needed to give their two cents," Fleming said at his signing ceremony. "Like, I'd walk by on the street and they'd go, 'Go to Penn State.' And [for] a long time, I told everybody I thought I was going to go there. It was hard; I had to crunch some stuff down. They weren't stable on offense, defense, they weren't pulling out games. Their coaching has been unstable for the past couple years, so a lot of stuff weighed into it."
Fleming has one season of eligibility remaining at Penn State. Here is his 2019 Signing Day interview at Southern Columbia High.
