Blessed & Honored: Five-Star Monday at Penn State

The Nittany Lions took advantage of most high schools being closed for Easter Monday by hosting two of the top prospects in the 2020 class — PA wide receiver Julian Fleming and OH offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr.

Both prospects are five-star players according to 247Sports Composite ranking. Fleming checks in as the No. 2 overall prospect in the country, while Johnson Jr. is ranked No. 7 overall.

This is the first reported visit for Johnson Jr. who plays at St. Xavier, redshirt freshman Sean Clifford’s alma mater. One important thing to note regarding Johnson Jr. is that his dad is the Asst. Director of Player Personnel at Pitt for Pat Narduzzi, and has a relationship with Narduzzi going back to Michigan State where Johnson Sr. was a GA and recruiting intern for the program. Obviously, that doesn’t mean Johnson Jr. won’t end up at Penn State, but it’s going to be a really tough pull for the Nittany Lions to land the son of someone on Pitt’s administrative staff.

As for Fleming, the Pennsylvania five-star has been to Penn State multiple times, and the Nittany Lions already own all seven of his 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions. I’d expect some of the SEC schools — especially Alabama now that Josh Gattis is there — to make things tough, but Penn State has positioned themselves really well in the early going.