'Bigger, faster' Penn State basketball set to reap offseason reward

Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades entered the offseason recognizing key realities from his debut season with the Nittany Lions. Finishing with a 16-17 overall record and a 10-12 mark in Big Ten play after the conference tournament, he and his staff focused on crafting a roster built to compete and handle the rigors that’d emerged over the previous 33 games. 

Immediately, that meant the retention of five core seniors with extensive playing experience, both at Penn State and in their stops prior to joining the Nittany Lions during the 2023 off-season. Led by point guard Ace Baldwin’s decision to return for a fifth and final season of college ball, the program also welcomed the returns of Puff Johnson, Nick Kern, Zach Hicks, and D’Marco Dunn.

Joining Rhoades at Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Days in Chicagoland on Thursday, Baldwin and Johnson represented the core of Penn State’s plans to build upon its foundational campaign.

“We need those five seniors to lead the way, and they have. They’ve had great summers, great falls,” said Rhoades on the BTN. “They’ve done a great job here in the first week of practice.”

Penn State retools roster

Nearly through with the second week of preseason practices, the Nittany Lions are leading up to an Oct. 25 exhibition date with Lafayette at Rhoades’ alma mater, Lebanon Valley College, followed by a Nov. 4 home opener against Binghamton at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The team that takes shape between now and then, however, is one that Penn State anticipates will yield fruits from its intention. Welcoming four transfers – Kachi Nzeh, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Eli Rice, and Freddie Dilione – as well as a four-man Class of 2024 – Jahvin Carter, Dominick Stewart, Miles Goodman, and Hudson Ward – the Nittany Lions are buzzing over what the additions have meant to their potential.

Specifically highlighting a handful of the transfers during his BTN segment with Baldwin and Johnson on Thursday afternoon from media day, Rhoades indicated that their combined impact has been notable.

“Yanic Niederhauser is our big guy that, we’re really excited about him. He’s going to impact us. Eli Rice, the transfer from Nebraska, he’s going to impact our program. Freddie Dilione from Tennessee, a guy I recruited really hard in the past,” said Rhoades. “We’re bigger, we’re faster, we got more shooting. So we could play our style that we want longer because we’re going to be deeper.”

Next steps

Determined to maximize those strides this preseason by continuing to build a “culture of work,” Rhoades said he expects his Nittany Lions to be more comfortable in the way they intend to play. That includes playing more freely on the offensive end and adding to the defensive reputation established in year one.

“We recruited more handlers, more shooting, more size to compete and do what we need to do. But we got to play more free. We gotta let our hair down and go,” said Rhoades. “We’re always going to guard and play really hard on the defense to try to steal the ball with great offense. But I just think our offense, with more depth, is going to get better this year.

“It’s all about getting better. We got to get the program better in all facets of how we do things. These guys, even though they’re fifth-year guys, they got to get better so the younger guys get better, develop everybody. Chase everybody, and then pass everybody out. I know that formula has always worked for me, and I believe it’s going to work at Penn State.”

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