James Franklin Losing Julian Fleming to Ryan Day Proves OSU is Lapping Penn State in Recruiting
By Austin Pert

The Penn State Nittany Lions lost heartbreaking games to the Ohio State Buckeyes in both 2017 and 2018, failing to hold onto late leads on their way to heartbreak.
They had the lead in the recruiting battle for in-state, 5-star WR Julian Fleming, and just like their two previous meeting on the field against the Buckeyes, they let it slip.
Final destination...... 4’s out ✌? pic.twitter.com/bX3qjQEA8R
— ?0J4? (@julian_040) May 31, 2019
Fleming's Southern Columbia high school is just over 90 minutes away from Penn State by car, but James Franklin couldn't keep the nation's No. 6 overall player at home.
Fleming has been a high priority for Franklin and his staff for over a year now, with the top-ranked receiver in the nation having taken multiple visits to Happy Valley. They were up against a first-year head coach at OSU in Ryan Day, someone who was seemingly was unproven, someone who other than the first three games of the 2018 season when Urban Meyer was serving a suspension, had never been the guy. He couldn't just waltz into Pennsylvania and steal what was once a safe PSU target, could he?
Day did exactly that. Back-to-back visits by Fleming to the Columbus campus last November set up the Buckeyes very well down the stretch, into a lead for the prospect that they held onto with an iron fist, and now, their 2020 class gets a huge boost.
With Julian Fleming committing to Ohio State, Penn State still only has 1 skilled player commit in the 2020 class
— Michael James (@___michaeljames) May 31, 2019
James Franklin for the 3rd time in 4 years fails to secure the no. 1 PA prospect that was almost guaranteed to him
Writing’s on the wall#WeAre? #DominateTheState? https://t.co/EfamTntSS5
On the flip side, Penn State's class now ranks 11th in the nation according to 247Sports. The Lions hired Franklin in 2014, and since then, only his sixth-ranked 2018 class finished a cycle ranked in the top ten.
Franklin was hired to bring recruiting results to State College, and lost battles like the one for Fleming show that Franklin is losing stream on the recruiting trail.