Things will look quite different at Penn State this upcoming season and there’s pretty good reason for that. The Nittany Lions aren’t exactly revered for basketball prowess but the recent work just hasn’t been ideal for Mike Rhoades and company. After finishing just above .500 in 2025, the Nittany Lions won just 12 games and finished dead last in the 18-team Big Ten last season.
Exciting freshman Kayden Mingo is now at Baylor, Freddie Dilione found his way to Georgia, and a half-dozen other names found their way into the transfer portal. The only really notable returner for the Nittany Lions is Ivan Juric, a 7-footer who became a double-digit scorer as a freshman last season.
Penn State had a few notable additions from the recruiting trail, including 3-star forward Jamison White, but a lot of this reloading has come from the transfer portal. Former Buffalo big Tim Oboh adds size to the frontcourt, while Roberts Blums joins from Davidson and likely takes one of those starting roles at guard. Additionally, they’re getting two veteran point guards in Dasonte Bowen from St. Bonaventure and Jay Rodgers from Central Connecticut.
Familiar face in PA
With the new look of this lineup, there really are several players we could focus on but Brant Byers jumps out just a little more than the others. A 6-8 forward originally from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Byers comes to town after three seasons at Miami-Ohio. He sat out as a redshirt initially and was a solid bench piece as a freshman, but it was last season where everything came together. Byers was an effective part of Miami’s undefeated regular season, averaging 14.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while making nearly 40% of his 3-point attempts.
The former MAC Rookie of the Year steps into a major role with the Nittany Lions. He may not be as experienced as some of these other additions, but he was part of a great winning culture with those Redhawks and was in the NCAA Tournament last season. Byers takes over at small forward and brings impressive shooting and scoring ability, with the hopes that he can handle that transition from the MAC.
Thanks to all of these offseason changes, we don’t quite know yet how Rhoades is going to handle this lineup and rotation, or if these moves will pay off in the long run. What we do know is that Byers is a fantastic piece who starred as an underclassman and now has a chance to step up into a more significant role at Penn State. We’ll just have to see what kind of season this becomes for the Nittany Lions.
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