Ohio State WR Julian Fleming Transfers to Penn State; Former No. 3 Overall Recruit

Julian Fleming has found his new home, and it is still in the Big Ten.

The former Ohio State wide receiver, who entered the transfer portal this offseason, announced he is joining Penn State for the 2024 campaign:

Fleming was a 5-star recruit and the No. 3 overall player in the class of 2020, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and chose the Buckeyes over the Nittany Lions when he was a prospect. However, he is now returning to the flagship program in his home state of Pennsylvania.

While Fleming never lived up to the hype that surrounded him as a recruit, part of that is due to the circumstances of playing in loaded wide receiver units.

He was behind NFL players in Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jameson Williams and Jaxon Smith-Njigba earlier in his career and found himself behind future NFL players in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka this past season.

The Buckeyes' wide receiver room has arguably been the best in the nation for years now under head coach Ryan Day, and there is only so much production to go around in a given season.

Fleming finished the 2023 campaign with 26 catches for 270 yards and zero touchdowns, which was a disappointing downturn after he posted 34 catches for 533 yards and six touchdowns in 2022. Part of that drop in production likely also came because NFL star C.J. Stroud was throwing to him in 2022 while Syracuse-bound Kyle McCord threw to him in 2023.

Moving to Penn State gives him an opportunity for a fresh start and a larger role.

The Nittany Lions are routinely among the best teams in the country, but poor wide receiver play limited their ceiling in 2023. They lost to all the best teams they played in Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss and will need better production from the position if they are going to make the expanded 12-team playoff field next season.

Fleming could help them do just that.