Penn State Basketball Wants to Take 'Another Step' This Season

Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades' team returns five seniors, including Ace Baldwin Jr., the Big Ten defensive player of the year.

Penn State guard Ace Baldwin Jr. celebrates his basket against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Target Center. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

In his first season as Penn State men's basketball coach, Mike Rhoades was forced to build a roster from the ground up and quickly. The Nittany Lions returned just 5 percent of their scoring from the previous year, so Rhoades went to the NCAA Transfer Portal. In Year 1 under Rhoades, Penn State managed a 16-17 record (9-11 Big Ten) that included upset wins over No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 12 Illinois. 

This year, the Nittany Lions will enjoy more stability in Rhoades’ second season. Penn State returns five seniors, led by reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin Jr., and four more of its top-seven scorers, Nick Kern Jr., Zach Hicks, D’Marco Dunn and Puff Johnson.  

“Excited for these five seniors to return, so we have some experience,” Rhoades said during Big Ten Basketball Media Days. “We went through the Big Ten landscape last year, and those are valuable experiences moving forward.” 

The preseason Big Ten media poll, conducted by the Indianapolis Star and Columbus Dispatch, picked the Nittany Lions to finish 17th out of 18 teams in the expanded conference. Only Minnesota was predicted to finish below Penn State. And only Baldwin garnered any votes on the preseason all-conference team.

To hang with the talented teams in the conference, Rhoades said his squad will have “play a little differently than the rest of the league.” He said Penn State has to create extra possessions or it will “get bludgeoned” if the game becomes “court-on-court offense or court-on-court defense.” 

“We have to be bold about that too and not be apologetic for it at all. This is who we're going to be,” Rhoades said. “For us to move forward, we had signature wins last year, we had some great momentum to build on, but now let's see if we can take another step.”

One of the highlights of Penn State’s 2024-25 schedule is the Jan. 5 game against Indiana in the Palestra, which has been a second home for the Nittany Lions in recent seasons. Penn State is 3-1 at the Palestra since 2017, including a second-half comeback win against Michigan last season. 

Penn State also will return to Rec Hall this season to host Ohio State on Jan. 30. The smaller venue made for a raucous atmosphere last season, which was further enhanced by the Nittany Lions’ upset over Illinois. 

Will a Rec Hall game become a yearly tradition for the program? Rhoades said he tries to make it an “everyday discussion” with Penn State’s administration. 

“We want to be outside the box. That's what we keep talking about,” Rhoades said. “For us to move forward in this league and to chase these guys like I said earlier, we got to think outside the box, and playing a game at Rec Hall, great environment, on top of the court, old school, double-knot your shoes and let's go to work.”

Penn State opens the regular season at home Nov. 4 against Binghamton. Before that, the Nittany Lions will face Lafayette on Oct. 25 at Lebanon Valley College, Rhoades’ alma mater, for a charity exhibition game. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m., and all proceeds will benefit Hope Within Ministries and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson