It appears that one of the best Pennsylvania high school football recruits of the past decade— if not longer— is on the verge of coming to Penn State from the transfer portal.
Although it would be happening four years after PSU fans would have preferred, the bottom line is this: Penn State is now the favorite to land Julian Fleming.
It’s the same Julian Fleming who 247Sports had as the No. 1 player in PA, the top player in the country and the No. 4 overall player in the 2019 recruiting class. It’s the same Fleming as the one who signed with Ohio State over Penn State. Now, after four seasons in Columbus, multiple insider projections have Fleming coming to Happy Valley.
On3Sports’ prediction machine has Fleming going to Penn State.
Over at 247Sports, insiders Brian Dohn and Chris Hunter placed Crystal Ball projections a minute apart Thursday night.
Have joined @BrianDohn247 in putting in a Crystal Ball pick for Penn State to land Ohio State wide receiver transfer Julian Fleming.
Fleming is the No. 32 overall player in the @247Sports transfer portal rankings. A bit more here (VIP)https://t.co/gtIP6xjSuh pic.twitter.com/WRqjzoCeb9
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) December 15, 2023
For a little, it looked like Fleming would be coming to a Big Ten school that isn’t Penn State from the transfer portal.
Nebraska hosted him for an official visit earlier this week along with Fleming’s most recent QB at Ohio State, Kyle McCord.
But now, neither player is projected to commit to Nebraska.
Although Fleming didn’t become the superstar many expected him to be at Ohio State— he never had more than 533 yards in a season— he’d still be a big addition. The WR room was generally thought to be the biggest weakness during Penn State’s 2023 regular season. Aside from KeAndre Lambert-Smith (53 catches, 673 yards, four TD), no Penn State WR had more than 246 yards. But Penn State’s had quality options at receiver throughout the James Franklin era. Players such as Chris Godwin, Jahan Dotson and KJ Hamler all became high-round NFL draft picks.
