Welcome home, Julian Fleming and Nolan Rucci.

Over the week after Penn State football fell in the Peach Bowl to Ole Miss, James Franklin pulled in three additions for the Nittany Lions out of the transfer portal. Edge rusher Jordan Mayer joined Penn State first, but the real headlines came with wide receiver Fleming and offensive tackle Rucci.

Fleming and Rucci’s arrivals, even more than the talent they bring, are a signal for Franklin’s program. Both players were the top-ranked players in their home state of Pennsylvania in their respective recruiting classes. The best in-state players from the following three classes all came to Penn State. One way or another, the best in Pennsylvania stay in Pennsylvania and play for Penn State.

After several years at different institutions, Fleming and Rucci are finally coming to Happy Valley. Their previous relationships with Penn State, especially Franklin, almost certainly made the recruiting process easy for both parties. Both players’ connection with Franklin and the program in high school were so good that they were both projected by analysts to pick Penn State, projections that found themselves true a few years later.

At 6’2″ and 210 pounds, Fleming spent the last four years at Ohio State, never holding down a spot as the Buckeyes’ top pass catcher. Instead, he sat behind Biletnikoff Award winner Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. His best season came two years ago when he caught 34 passes for 533 yards and six touchdowns. Last season, he had 26 catches for 270 yards but never found the end zone. He finished his time at Ohio State with 80 catches, 990 yards, and seven touchdowns.

Fleming hails from Southern Columbia, where he was a top target for both Penn State and Ohio State. When he eventually committed to the Buckeyes over Penn State, Alabama, and several others, he said the Nittany Lions were the suitor most difficult to turn down.

Fleming’s addition was an absolute necessity for Penn State, which saw little production from its wide receiver corps in 2023. Projected top target KeAndre Lambert-Smith finished the season with one target in the Peach Bowl, Trey Wallace was injury-prone, and the Nittany Lions never seemed to have a set third option and ran a 12-personnel offense to compensate.

Wide receiver Dante Cephas reportedly transferred from the program but never made a formal announcement and seemed displeased with Penn State before his departure, giving the Nittany Lions a clear hole to fill. Still, departures from Penn State’s receiver corps are likely irrelevant in Fleming’s case, as he can be a plug-and-play option.

A 6’8″, 300-pound left tackle, Rucci is a year younger than Fleming and was part of a 2021 recruiting class that didn’t go well for Franklin in-state. While Penn State has been known to land top players in its own state, its top player in Pennsylvania was wide receiver Lonnie White, who turned down college football in favor of a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Behind White was three-star offensive lineman Nate Bruce, who left the program after spring camp and was later arrested.

The son of former Penn State letterman and NFL lineman Todd Rucci, Nolan Rucci originally committed to Wisconsin as the No. 5 player at his position. He never created much traction in Madison, played in three games in the last two years, and never saw the field during his freshman season. Rucci spent time as the No. 2 left tackle behind Jack Nelson, who is eligible to declare for the NFL Draft but hasn’t made an official decision, likely prompting Rucci’s departure.

Rucci comes to occupy a void Penn State needed to fill with four departing starting offensive linemen, most notably top draft prospect Olu Fashanu. Franklin said repeatedly he uses new transfers to create competition in his roster, so Penn State will hope Rucci at least makes the players around him better.