Big Ten Offseason Evaluation: Penn State Nittany Lions

In our Big Ten Offseason Evaluation series, we’ll break down the roster changes and outlook for all 18 Big Ten basketball teams heading into the 2024-25 season. Next up is Penn State, which enters its second year under coach Mike Rhoades.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades looks at the scoreboard during the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

Given that he had to flip over almost the entire roster and replace his leading scorer in February, Penn State finished with a reasonable 9-11 Big Ten record in year one of the coach Mike Rhoades era. Things certainly could have gone much worse.

Year two comes with far more certainty and continuity, as a majority of Penn State’s core rotation from last season returns. 

Here’s a full breakdown of Penn State’s offseason, plus its outlook for next year.

Who they lost

• Transfers: Kanye Clary (16.7 ppg, Mississippi State), Jameel Brown (4.0 ppg, Temple), Demetrius Lilley (2.8 ppg), Bragi Gudmundsson (0.9 ppg, Campbell), Favour Aire (0.6 ppg, Bryant)
• NBA/graduation: Qudus Wahab (9.8 ppg), RayQuawndis Mitchell (3.1 ppg), Leo O’Boyle (2.0 ppg)

Who they gained

• Transfers: Yanic Konan Niederhauser (7.3 ppg, Northern Illinois), Eli Rice (4.2 ppg, Nebraska), Kachi Nzeh (2.5 ppg, Xavier), Freddie Dilione V (1.7 ppg, Tennessee)
• Freshmen: Miles Goodman (No. 105 in 247Sports Composite), Hudson Ward (No. 131), Jahvin Carter (No. 256), Dominick Stewart (No. 275)

Returning

• Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.2 ppg), Zach Hicks (8.4 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (8.7 ppg), Puff Johnson (7.3 ppg), D’Marco Dunn (6.8 ppg)

Reasons for optimism

Penn State returns five players that started at least 12 games last season, highlighted by Ace Baldwin Jr., the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Big Ten third-team point guard. Baldwin averaged 14.2 points and 6.0 assists per game, and his 2.7 steals ranked fourth in the country. It’s a luxury for any team to return its starting point guard, especially one who can score and create opportunities for others, while also setting the tone and being a pest defensively. 

Another key returner is Hicks, who led Penn State in 3-point attempts and makes last season. At 6-foot-7 he’s a tough cover beyond the arc, though he’ll have to increase his 35.2% field goal shooting for Penn State to take the next step as a team. Kern, Johnson and Dunn are also back, creating important continuity that is rare in this era of college basketball.

Penn State lost five players to the transfer portal, but four played 10 minutes or less per game. So overall, the portal was a net positive for Rhoades and the Nittany Lions. The most intriguing transfer addition was Tennessee guard Freddie Dilione V. He redshirted his first season and played just 5.2 minutes per game last year. He suffered a foot injury in November, and minutes were tough to come by on a roster filled with All-Conference guards in their junior and senior seasons. Dilione is a former top-50 recruit ranked as the No. 3 shooting guard in the nation by On3. He should push Dunn for starting minutes alongside Baldwin in the backcourt. 

Biggest concerns

Rhoades dismissed starting guard Kanye Clary from the team in February, which took an electric scorer off the roster. Clary had 20-plus points in 10 of his first 23 games last season. That loss creates a scoring void they'll hope to fill with Dunn and Dilione, but the Nittany Lions also have 10 games of valuable experience without Clary, which should help ease the transition.

But aside from Clary’s absence, the weak point of Penn State’s roster is the frontcourt with starting center Qudus Wahab having graduated. One of his replacements is Xavier transfer Kachi Nzeh, who played just 9.8 minutes per game in 19 contests as a true freshman last season. He’s also just 6-foot-8, which could be a major disadvantage in some Big Ten games, assuming Rhoades starts 6-foot-6 Nick Kern and 6-foot-7 Zach Hicks at the small forward and power forward positions and primarily brings 6-foot-8 Puff Johnson off the bench for a second straight year.

Helping Nzeh inside will be 6-foot-11 freshman Miles Goodman, ranked No. 105 in the nation, and 7-foot Northern Illinois transfer Yanic Konan Niederhauser. In 19.6 minutes per game, Niederhauser averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. He also went 7-for-24 from 3-point range, which could create some matchup problems for opposing centers, but 75% of his scoring came around the rim. So between Nzeh, Goodman and Niederhauser, Penn State’s center rotation consists of players with no experience in a conference that is traditionally physical and has strong post play.

The bottom line

With five major contributors returning, Penn State should improve on its 16-17 record from last season in year two under Rhoades. Baldwin will be one of the top guards in the conference on both ends of the floor again, which is always a good starting point. If Dilione and a few others really progress, the team could be in the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation. But with all the uncertainty at the center position, it’s more likely the Nittany Lions finish near the bottom of the Big Ten.

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