Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1505736
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State. He wants to win, and he has brought a staff with him that has a his- tory of winning at Virginia Common- wealth, having welcomed Jamal Brunt as associate head coach and Brent Scott and Jimmy Martelli as assistants. That staff has since brought in players who also want to win, including two from VCU: senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. and junior guard Nick Kern Jr. Rhoades said he's been pleased with what he's seen so far from his team, which includes nine transfers and only three scholarship returnees — sopho- more guards Kanye Clary and Jameel Brown and sophomore forward Deme- trius Lilley. "I love how hard we compete," Rhoades said. "I love how hard we've practiced so far. I really like how well these guys get along. I think that's really important your first year, trying to build your mentality." As for the team's on-court outlook, Rhoades said he's been impressed with what he's seen from the guards. He's well acquainted with Baldwin, a two-time all-conference honoree and the Atlan- tic 10 Player of the Year this past sea- son. Kern, too, is a familiar face, hav- ing started the last 19 games of VCU's 2022-23 season. Rhoades has been pleased with how those players have meshed with the other backcourt trans- fers — graduate RayQuawndis Mitchell (formerly of Missouri-Kansas City) and D'Marco Dunn (North Carolina). "I really like our guard play. It's prob- ably a little bit better than I thought it would be," Rhoades said. "I hope we're a better shooting team than I thought. We have some guys that are really shooting the ball well right now, but the bleachers aren't pulled out, and the lights aren't on, so that's different. It's easy in the summer because there's no adversity." Rhoades had a chance to assess his team's development during a trip to the Bahamas in early August. The Li- ons topped 100 points in both of their games at the Baha Mar Summer Hoops League event, defeating the Bahamas Pirates 113-65 on Aug. 8 and outpacing the University of Victoria (Canada) 103- 77 two days later. All 13 players who saw action against the Pirates scored, and five reached double figures, a contingent led by Kern with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Against the University of Victoria, Penn State shot 58.9 percent as a team. Clary contributed to that impressive performance by hitting 10 of 13 shots en route to a team-high 22 points. Even before the Lions headed to the Bahamas, Rhoades was emphasizing the need for collective improvement. "It's always about moving forward," he said. "Everybody gets a little bit bet- ter this week. Let's get a little bit bet- ter as a team. Let's find out more about each other. "I don't care what other people think about our program. We've got to estab- lish our program. But what I do know is that I like the group we have and I'd like to see how good we can be." ■ Rhoades On NIL Concerns: 'We Know The World We Live In' The main storyline of Micah Shrewsberry's two seasons at Penn State centered on the program's steady improvement, which culminated in an NCAA Tournament win and an appearance in the Big Ten tourney title game in Year 2. Beneath the surface, however, the theme of Shrewsberry's tenure had to do with PSU's struggles in the name, image and likeness realm. Concerns about Penn State's NIL efforts played a role in Shrewsberry's decision to leave for Notre Dame. In order for his successor, Mike Rhoades, to succeed in building PSU into a con- sistent winner, the team will need to be competi- tive in that area. When asked in July where Penn State stands, Rhoades said he was confident that the necessary progress is being made. "We're decent with NIL. We've made it an emphasis," he said. "I wouldn't be here if that weren't important to our athletics and our pro- gram. It's not the No. 1 thing on our list, because if the No. 1 thing on your list is how big an NIL deal you want to get, then don't come to Penn State and play for us." Rhoades said he wants players to understand that the real money is on the back end of devel- opment, but he also made clear that continued investment is going to be necessary in order to build a successful program. "We know the world we live in," he said. "To be competitive, we have to have a strong NIL [program]. We've put things in place quickly that have helped, and I'm very proud of that. "But we're going to do it the right way. If a recruit's first line to me is, 'How much?' I'm mov- ing on. We'll find other people. There are a lot of good players out there." — Nate Bauer P E N N S T A T E 2 0 2 3 - 2 4 M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L R O S T E R No. Name Pos. Cl. Ht. Wt. Home High School/Last College 0 Kanye Clary G So. 5-11 192 Virginia Beach, Va. Massanutten Military Academy 1 Ace Baldwin Jr. G Sr. 6-1 190 Baltimore St. Frances Academy/VCU 2 D'Marco Dunn G Jr. 6-5 190 Tucson, Ariz. Westover (N.C.)/North Carolina 3 Nick Kern Jr. G Jr. 6-6 190 St. Louis Vashon/VCU 4 Puff Johnson G/F Sr. 6-8 200 Moon Township, Pa. Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.)/North Carolina 5 Jameel Brown G So. 6-4 188 Philadelphia Westtown School 6 Bragi Guðmundsson G Fr. 6-5 185 Grindavik, Iceland Sudurnes Comprehensive 11 Leo O'Boyle F Gr. 6-7 210 Scranton, Pa. Scranton Prep/Lafayette 12 Favour Aire F So. 6-11 215 Ekpoma, Nigeria Bishop McNamara (Md.)/Miami (Fla.) 14 Demetrius Lilley F So. 6-10 245 Philadelphia Lower Merion 15 Dan Conlan G Sr. 6-4 186 Sewickley, Pa. Quaker Valley/Dickinson 21 RayQuawndis Mitchell G Gr. 6-5 205 Blaine, Minn. Blaine/Missouri-Kansas City 22 Qudus Wahab F Gr. 6-11 245 Lagos, Nigeria Flint Hill (Va.)/Georgetown 24 Zach Hicks F Jr. 6-8 195 Camden, N.J. Camden Catholic/Temple 33 Andy Christos G Sr. 6-5 186 Madison, N.J. Vermont Academy/Madison