Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1496986
M A Y 2 0 2 3 13 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M PSU Hoops, Football Teams Welcome Key Transfers The transfer portal has brought more than its share of angst to the college coaching profession, but sometimes it also brings relief. Such was the case in April when Penn State's two most prominent programs were boosted by significant portal additions. On April 9, new men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades received the welcome news that his star point guard at Virginia Commonwealth, rising se- nior Adrian "Ace" Baldwin Jr., was planning to fol- low him to State College. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Baldwin was the most decorated player in the Atlantic 10 as a junior last season, winning the league's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards after averaging 12.7 points, 5.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game . A Baltimore native, Baldwin was No. 17 in On3's ranking of the top players in the transfer portal and was the No. 4 point guard. "The greatest compliment you can get in a team sport is that you make those around you better. That's Ace on a daily basis," Rhoades said in March prior to VCU's appearance in the NCAA Tourna- ment. Four days before Baldwin revealed his decision, Minnesota running back Trey Potts announced that he was planning to join the Penn State football team. The 5-11, 210-pound rising senior rushed for 1,147 yards and 10 touchdowns in 22 games with the Golden Gophers. Before heading to Minneapolis, Potts was a standout at Williamsport (Pa.) Area High, rushing for 3,490 yards and 59 touchdowns in his career with the Millionaires. He was a consensus three- star recruit in the 2019 class. At PSU, he'll compete for carries in a backfield that featured only two scholarship players this spring, sophomores Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, but will welcome two freshmen in the summer. Potts told BWI's Sean Fitz that he's eager to re- turn to his roots in central Pennsylvania. "I grew up a Penn State fan. I grew up going to the White Outs. Some of my family had gradu- ated from Penn State, so it was always a dream of mine," he said. "And for Coach [James] Franklin and the staff to give me an opportunity when I hopped in the transfer portal to come back home, not only to PA but Penn State, and go out there and play in front of my state, in front of Penn State fans, my family … that just means a lot." — Matt Herb PENN STATE'S TOP PERFORMERS Cecelia Bacon — Women's Track and Field Bacon, a graduate student from Chantilly, Va., recently turned in two of the better jumps in school history. At the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational on March 25 in Coral Gables, Fla., she tied the program's third-best outdoor mark in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 11.25 inches. It was the best leap in the Big Ten to that point in the season and the third-best leap nationally, and it earned her Women's Field Athlete of the Week honors from the conference for the first time in her career. A week earlier, Bacon cleared 5-10.75 at the Penn Springtime Invitational, the sixth-best jump in school history. Cole Bogner — Men's Volleyball Bogner was instrumental in leading the third-ranked Nittany Lions to a pair of 3-0 victories at Harvard. The graduate setter from Chesapeake, Va., had 33 assists in a 25-16, 25-15, 25-23 sweep on March 31, orchestrating an attack in which the Lions hit .457 as a team. He had 30 assists the following night, and Penn State won 25-17, 29-27, 25-21, completing its visit to Cambridge, Mass., without dropping a set. The Lions extended their regular-season unbeaten streak in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association to 24 matches, and Bogner was subsequently named the league's Offensive Player of the Week. It was the fourth time in his career he claimed the honor. Tessa Janecke — Women's Ice Hockey The standout freshman forward was named to the U.S. Women's Ice Hockey National Team on April 1, the latest in a deluge of postseason honors. Janecke was also named national Rookie of the Year by U.S. College Hockey On- line and the Hockey Commissioners Association, and she received similar honors at the conference level from Col- lege Hockey America. Janecke had 22 goals and 25 assists in her debut season, helping lead the Nittany Lions to the NCAA Tourna- ment for the first time in program history. She and the rest of Team USA began play on April 5 at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship in Brampton, Ontario. Josh Karnes — Men's Gymnas cs Penn State placed second at the Big Ten Champion- ships, and Karnes had a big hand in the team's strong finish. On March 31, the first night of the competition at Ohio State, the sophomore posted a score 14.550 on the parallel bars. It was part of a performance in which the Lions totaled 410.700 points, their highest score of the season, to finish behind only Michigan in the team standings. The following night, Karnes earned a 14.350 in the same event to clinch his individual conference title. "It was great to see a championship out of Josh Karnes," coach Randy Jepson said after watching the Erie, Pa., native top 14.000 on the parallel bars for the seventh time in a row. — Matt Herb