Penn State All 105: Fast Josiah Brown Begins his College Football Journey

When it comes to the receivers position, Penn State football’s Class of 2024 has a lot of promise, and Josiah Brown is part of that.

In the previous recruiting cycle, Penn State singed just one receiver.

That was Carmelo Taylor. Taylor’s no longer with the program.

Last year, new WR coach Marques Hagans and company had to get to work.

They did just that.

Before the end of June, Tyseer Denmark (Philadelphia), Peter Gonzalez (Pittsburgh) and Brown (Malverne, New York) had each committed to Penn State, and all three wound up signing in December.

Nittany Sports Now will be profiling the three true freshman receivers— as well as every other PSU player— throughout All 105, and this edition is about Brown.

Height: 5-foot-11 

Weight: 175 pounds 

Hometown: Malverne, New York

Before Penn State: After committing to Penn State in June, Brown went onto have a successful senior season at New York’s Malverne High School after transferring from Holy Trinity. That season was unfortunately cut short due to a knee injury Brown suffered in October— on the same night Franklin came to see him play via helicopter. As a senior, Brown was an all-state performer. He ended the season with 589 total yards and eight touchdowns. Brown was also an all-state performer in track. He signed with Penn State as a four-star prospect.

Where he stands: Although Penn State’s receivers room was, in the eyes of most, the team’s biggest weakness in 2023 and, with the exception of Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming, doesn’t look much different in 2024, it’s unlikely Brown will play much. For one, Fleming and returner Trey Wallace are virtual locks to start if healthy. The third starting spot will likely go to one of Kaden Saunders, Omari Evans or Liam Clifford. That combined with Brown, who’s known for his speed, losing a portion of his senior season due to a knee injury, makes it likely he’ll redshirt his first season.

With that said, Penn State has done well with fast receivers perceived to be undersized. KJ Hamler and Jahan Dotson come to mind. Time will tell if Brown follows in that lineage.

A quote by Brown: ”It’s kind of hard to pinpoint one thing (that I liked the most). Everything was great. What I would say is that they have a really strong family atmosphere there.”

”I feel like I have a strong connection with everyone there, and because of that, I loved everything about my visit.” — Brown to Blue-White Illustrated after his official visit to Penn State.

A quote about Brown: ”You know, when you talk about Josiah Brown, he was a guy that we identified very early on – had track times to back it up,” Franklin said. “Came to camp, ran really well in camp. Suffered an injury his senior year, which limited some of his impact on his team and maybe some of the rankings, as well, but they’re two guys that we know a lot about and have been recruiting for a long time.” — Coach James Franklin on Brown during his post-signing day presser.

More All 105s

DE Jameial Lyons

TE Joey Schlaffer

QB Ethan Grunkemeyer

CB Elliot Washington

TE Khalil Dinkins

DE Amin Vanover 

LB Tyrece Mills

QB Jaxon Smolik

S DaKarri Nelson

LB Tony Rojas

RB Kaytron Allen

CB Jon Mitchell

WR Anthony Ivey

DE Abdul Carter

RB Nicholas Singleton

QB Beau Pribula 

WR Tyler Johnson

CB Zion Tracy

WR Kaden Saunders

WR Trey Wallace 

S Zakee Wheatley

CB Cam Miller

WR Omari Evans

CB A.J. Harris

CB Jalen Kimber

WR Julian Fleming 

S KJ Winston

WR Liam Clifford

S Jaylen Reed 

LB Dom DeLuca