WR Julian Fleming opens up on Penn State transfer, Ohio State career, James Franklin and more

Six and a half years after picking up a Penn State scholarship offer before his sophomore season at Southern Columbia (Catawissa, Pa.) High School, Julian Fleming spent Thursday moving into his new place in Happy Valley. The path looked much different than many anticipated, featuring a four-season stay in Columbus that saw him become a Big Ten champion and an Ohio State graduate, but the 23-year-old officially becomes a Nittany Lion when the new semester starts Monday.

“I wanted to be close to home, I wanted to be close to my people, and I want to win a Big Ten championship with another team,” Fleming told Lions247 on Friday afternoon.

The No. 1 overall receiver recruit in 247Sports’ Class of 2020 rankings, Fleming finished his time at Ohio State with 79 catches for 963 yards and seven touchdowns. His 2022 junior campaign (34 receptions for 533 yards and six scores) stands out within a Buckeyes run that was impacted by injuries and elite positional competition.

“Rocky is probably the best word to use for it,” Fleming said of his Ohio State career. “You know, I’ve been banged up a lot, I’ve had a lot of injuries. A lot of stuff going on, some good games and not the best games. So there’s been a lot of ups and downs throughout my career. But I feel like that’s kind of carved me into who I am today — a team player, someone who can deal with adversity well, and constantly just giving my all. So without those experiences, I feel like I definitely wouldn’t be the same person that I am right now.”

A starter in 20 of the 23 Buckeyes games he played since 2022, Fleming gained an extra year of college eligibility via the NCAA’s COVID response. He began piecing together a plan on how to utilize it when Ohio State’s regular season wrapped up with a loss to Michigan.

“After the last game, there was obviously a lot of conversations that had to go on between my family and I, and the (Buckeyes) coaches and I, just kind of figuring out where everything stands,” Fleming said. “Obviously this year wasn’t the best for me. I felt like I put in a lot of effort and I just didn’t get the outcome that I wanted. I went to the coaches and was like, ‘Hey, let’s have a conversation about options and what I could do.'”

That led to open, honest dialogue.

“There’s no bad blood between Ohio State and I, or Coach (Ryan) Day and I, or Coach Hart (Brian Hartline) and I,” Fleming said. “It was just a decision I had to make for myself and they supported it. That’s really all I can ask for.”

Fleming finished the fall with 26 receptions for 270 yards without a touchdown in 12 games, while ranking second among all Ohio State players in run-blocking, per Pro Football Focus. He paced third among positional peers in catches, trailing Heisman Trophy finalist Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, who was the nation’s No. 1 receiver prospect in 2021.

This April, Harrison will become the fourth first-round NFL draft pick at receiver who shared a Buckeyes position room with Fleming. Life among that group was a perspective-altering experience.

“It’s crazy. It’s honestly awesome,” Fleming said. “And it’s never like I’m trying to outdo someone else. It’s always just constructive criticism, and trying to get each other better, and building and trying to gain that one percent or that half a percent to constantly keep increasing your skill level. Being able to see that from some of the top guys in the country was awesome.”

Following his aforementioned meeting with the Ohio State staff, Fleming submitted his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal on Monday, Dec. 4. During an ensuing two-day span, Fleming estimates he spent “probably about 12 hours on the phone” with interested coaching staffs.

“I’m older now. So the recruiting process isn’t really the recruiting process,” Fleming said. “It’s kind of like a free agency thing. I have one more year left. You can’t sell someone on BS and I’ve been through it already. I went through the recruiting ringer four years prior. That obviously helped a lot to see through certain people and certain things.”

James Franklin personally initiated contact on behalf of Penn State, re-engaging with one of the most prioritized in-state prospects of his Nittany Lions coaching career.

“There were no promises made,” Fleming recalled of their discussions. “It’s you’re gonna come in, you’re gonna work, you’re gonna earn everything that you get, and that’s it. I like people that are straightforward and blunt, and that’s how he was.”

Phone calls quickly turned into a Happy Valley visit that first week in the portal, presenting Fleming with an opportunity to meet with other members of the staff. Receivers coach Marques Hagans made a major impression while sorting through Fleming’s Ohio State film with him at team facilities.

“He is awesome,” Fleming said. “Having a visit with him and being able to sit down and talk ball was probably one of the best conversations I’ve had in a long time. Just going over all the small nitpicky things like, ‘Hey, you made a great play here, but this is how it could be better.’ Things of that nature. I think he’s an awesome dude and an even better coach.”

New Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was also involved with December discussions.

“I got to go through some stuff with him — how the offense is gonna work and how I’d be implemented into it,” Fleming said. “He’s very smart, very intelligent when it comes to football, and an even better dude off the field.”

Despite widespread reach out, Fleming quickly focused on two universities.

“I wanted to narrow it down right away, because I didn’t want to do all the recruiting stuff again,” he said. “So it was really only between Penn State and Nebraska, and that’s why those are the only two visits that I took. And I wanted to be committed as soon as possible, not sit in the portal and have other people take up slots if I knew what I wanted to do.”

The Cornhuskers also hosted him on campus last month.

“Nebraska was amazing,” Fleming said. “It was one of the best facilities, best places I’ve ever been to.”

Yet, that wasn’t enough to dissuade him from returning to his home state. That decision delighted friends and family from the area who will now get to see him play more frequently, and it marked a full-circle moment from a recruitment process that heavily involved Penn State and sparked plenty of emotion near the end.

“Obviously it was a little rocky when I committed to Ohio State,” Fleming said. “Some things happened and people tried to say I badmouthed Penn State, but I never badmouthed Penn State. I went my separate way and that’s just kind of the decision I made as a young kid. And you know, I don’t regret it. I went to a college, I got developed, I sat behind some of the best receivers in the country, I have a Big Ten championship, I got to play everywhere across the country.”

Six and a half years after Franklin first opened the door, Fleming took him up on the second opportunity.

“When I put my name in the portal and talked to Coach Franklin, that relationship was still there and it was still there with a lot of the staff members that were there when I was a recruit,” Fleming said. “It was amazing just getting to see everyone again, and see how everyone’s changed and grown and become so much different. I’m sure they felt the same way about me. So rebuilding the relationships wasn’t really an issue.”

In terms of new relationships, Fleming’s rapport with rising junior quarterback Drew Allar will be emphasized in the coming weeks and months.

“We’ve definitely got to get on the same page,” Fleming said. “We got to talk ball a little bit when I was in State College and we were just texting the other day. It’s gonna be really important to build that relationship and build that confidence.”

There hasn’t been a ton of interaction with the current Penn State receivers room to this point, but Fleming is excited to break that ice while putting in work with his new teammates.

“Coming in as a freshman or a young guy, you don’t necessarily know how to build that leadership and that confidence in other people, or how to continue to push people to get better,” he said. “But I feel like I’ve been through it. I’ve learned how to be more vocal and (my) leadership qualities have grown since I was younger.”

Fleming is getting underway with his days as a Nittany Lion four years later than fans would’ve preferred but, for him, it feels like the perfect time.

“When you’re young and first come to college, you think you’re gonna be the No. 1 dude all the time. But that’s just not the case,” Fleming said. “There’s a lot of dudes who think that coming in, and I think college really humbles you. Getting to sit behind some of the best receivers in the country for a couple years has really kind of opened my eyes to all the talent and all the hard work that goes into it. It’s definitely a lot different than how I was in high school.”