Julian Fleming is returning to his home state and staying in the Big Ten.
The former Ohio State wide receiver is transferring to Penn State after four years with the Buckeyes.
Penn State battled Ohio State for Fleming’s commitment as a recruit, but the five-star wide receiver – ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect in the entire recruiting class of 2020 – chose the Buckeyes over his home-state Nittany Lions. Four years later, however, Fleming will play for the Nittany Lions after all for his final year of college football.
Fleming is now set to play against the Buckeyes when Penn State hosts Ohio State next season, a game that is scheduled for Nov. 2, 2024 at Beaver Stadium.
A native of Catawissa, Pennsylvania – about an hour-and-a-half drive away from State College – Fleming never became the superstar he was expected to be at Ohio State, in part due to repeated injuries throughout his career, but caught 60 passes for 803 yards and six touchdowns as a starting wide receiver for the Buckeyes over the past two seasons.
Despite being a starter for the past two years, he may have faced competition for his starting job if he stayed at Ohio State with Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and incoming five-star freshman Jeremiah Smith all candidates to compete for starting jobs next year. At Penn State, however, he’ll have the chance to be the go-to receiver he never became in Columbus.
Wide receiver play has been a weakness for the Nittany Lions this season as only one wideout, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, has more than 22 catches or 246 yards for the year. Assuming Lambert-Smith returns for his senior season, Fleming projects to start opposite him and could add more of a deep threat to an offense that made few big plays downfield in Drew Allar’s first season as quarterback.
Initially, it appeared as though Fleming and fellow Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord could team up at Nebraska when they visited the Cornhuskers together earlier in December. Now, however, Fleming and McCord will be going their separate ways as Allar returns for his second season as Penn State’s starting quarterback next year while McCord has transferred to Syracuse.
