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Penn State forward Kachi Nzeh enters NCAA transfer portal

nate-mug-10.12.14by:Nate Bauer•04/18/25•

NateBauerBWI

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Penn State forward Kachi Nzeh will transfer. (Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)

The Penn State men’s basketball program opened the week with a transfer portal addition, welcoming senior wing Josh Reed from Cincinnati. Friday afternoon, it ended the week with a transfer portal departure.

According to On3’s Jamie Shaw, Kachi Nzeh will seek his third program in the portal.

A rising junior forward who transferred from Xavier to play for the Nittany Lions this past season, Nzeh appeared in 29 games for Penn State last year, starting two, in his one and only season in the program. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds while playing 11.3 minutes per outing. He twice notched season-high scoring of eight points, first against Virginia Tech in November and again in a 76-75 loss at Iowa in January. His season-high in rebounding game against UMBC, notching six in a dominant win over the Retrievers.

Future impact

The departure of Nzeh means the onus of Big Ten-ready bodies will remain at the forefront of Penn State’s portal exploration this cycle. With just eight scholarship players presently on the roster, the Nittany Lions currently boast only Yanic Konan Niederhauser and incoming true freshman Justin Hauser as players standing 6-foot-9 or taller.

Lamenting one of the lessons learned in his first two seasons coaching a team competing in the Big Ten, head coach Mike Rhoades pointed to size issues as among the priorities to be rectified through the transfer portal this offseason.

“We all know talent,” said Rhoades. “We need size and girth. The one thing that I had to learn even more is the level of size, one through five. Returning players got to put on a body of armor that could win games in the Big Ten. But we also got to go out and recruit a body of armor. Guys with size and girth at all positions. I think that’s really important. 

“We could still play the style that I want to play being bigger and stronger and taller and more girth. So that’s huge.”

Penn State began the process of building up earlier this week when bringing in 6-foot-7 wing, Josh Reed ahead of his senior season. Playing in 97 games over his three seasons at Cincinnati, Reed is coming out of a stretch of games in which he hit 11 of 28 3-pointers (39.2 percent) over the last 10 Big 12 games.

Where things stand for Penn State (8 scholarships filled)

Guards Freddie Dilione, Dominick Stewart, Kayden Mingo
Wings Eli Rice, Mason Blackwood, Josh Reed
Bigs Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Justin Hauser

Penn State scholarship breakdown by class

Fifth year (0): 
Fourth year (1): Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Josh Reed
Third year (2): Freddie Dilione, Eli Rice
Second year (1): Dominick Stewart
First year (3): Justin Hauser, Mason Blackwood, Kayden Mingo

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