Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519242
M A Y 2 0 2 4 41 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "And I'm not going to stop there. You're going to have to kill me before you stop me from trying to move this program for- ward. First-year programs, I've done it before. It's really, really hard. But I was su- per proud of our staff continuing to work with our guys and finding ways to connect with them and move them forward. "We had some momentum in Big Ten play with the style of play and our ap- proach. People were excited about that. Let's continue to build on that this off- season by how hard we work. This year showed me that I'm in the right place and we're going to get this thing rolling." For Penn State to do so, it will need to maintain its best aspects, improve upon its shortcomings, quickly develop its four-man recruiting class, and strategi- cally build on its personnel through the transfer portal in the coming months. Here's a look at where the Nittany Lions stand and where they'd like to be when the 2024-25 campaign begins: Backcourt Penn State's guard corps has some strengths, but also some vulnerabilities. The most significant piece of good news the Nittany Lions received in recent weeks was that Ace Baldwin Jr., the reign- ing Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, was most likely returning for a fifth and final season of college basketball. Baldwin had been relatively quiet about his plans while the season was winding down in March. He had a number of op- tions to weigh. The veteran point guard could turn pro or opt to use his bonus year of eligibility, either at Penn State or some- where else. Baldwin had not formally announced his plans as of April 15, but within the pro- gram, there was a sense of confidence that he would be back next season. With his return, the Nittany Lions can build around a point guard who played in all 33 games and started 31 last year, averaging nearly 36 minutes per outing. He led the team in scoring average (14.2 points per game) and shooting percentage (38.9). With averages of 6 assists and a Big Ten-leading 2.7 steals per game, Baldwin is Penn State's acknowledged leader on both ends of the hardwood. Joining Baldwin in the backcourt as a presumed starter, D'Marco Dunn is back for his fourth and final year of eligibility in 2024-25. Despite inconsistent stretches in his first year with the Nittany Lions, the North Carolina transfer posted key double-figure scoring contributions in wins over Rutgers and Iowa, as well as a pair of victories over Indiana. True freshman point guard Jahvin Carter, a two-time Tennessee state cham- pion, and combo guard Dominick Stew- art, the No. 256 overall player and No. 54 shooting guard in the On3 Industry Rank- ing, will help to offset the loss of Clary and Jameel Brown to the transfer portal. Still, the Nittany Lions quickly tar- geted Northern Kentucky combo guard Marques Warrick and Merrimack's Jordan Derkack in April out of the transfer portal. Penn State needs to improve its on-ball defense, offensive efficiency and pace, and team shooting percentages. In addi- tion, Rhoades cited ball security as a par- ticularly crucial factor in PSU's efforts to improve. This past season, the Nittany Li- ons finished third in conference play with a plus-2.60 turnover margin per game but also were 10th with an assist-to-turnover ratio of just 1.22 per game. Frontcourt While Penn State needs more help in the backcourt ahead of the 2024-25 cam- paign, its issues up front are at least as pressing. For the season, the Nittany Lions fin- ished among the nation's worst outfits in rebounding. Their rebounding margin per game was minus-4.6, which ranked 324th of 351 teams nationally. Worse, at 22.7 defensive rebounds per game, Penn State finished 329th in the category and last in the Big Ten. It was a problem that emerged early in the campaign and proved difficult to ad- dress in-season. "I don't think our rebounding is im- proved enough. That's something we're working on and we're emphasizing," Rhoades said in January. "We've got to rebound better defensively, without a doubt. Our defense would be so much better if we were rebounding 10 percent more of the first misses. That's not a lot, but it's significant." Center Qudus Wahab won't be a part of the rehabilitation effort. The team leader in rebounding with 7.8 boards per game, Wahab has exhausted his eligibility. For- ward Demetrius Lilley (2.7 rebounds per game) won't be back, either. He is headed to La Salle after two seasons with the Nit- tany Lions. Rising seniors Nick Kern Jr., Zach Hicks and Puff Johnson will all return, and two newcomers are set to help bolster the ef- fort at this stage of the process. In the class of 2024, 6-foot-10 big man Miles Goodman is the nation's No. 98 overall prospect and No. 15 power for- ward, per the On3 Industry Ranking. Another forward, Hudson Ward out of Alberta, Canada, signed his letter of in- tent on April 11. Ward stands 6-7 and has received a three-star grade from On3. Additionally, the Nittany Lions' first acquisition through the transfer por- tal was Kachi Nzeh, a 6-9 forward who spent his first season of college basket- ball at Xavier. Penn State has also hosted 6-10 stretch four Yanic Konan Nieder- hauser, a rising junior out of Northern Illinois. ■ TENTATIVE 2024-25 PENN STATE SCHOLARSHIP ROSTER Name Pos. Elig. Ht. Wt. Hometown School/Last College Ace Baldwin Jr. G Sr.+ 6-1 190 Baltimore St. Frances Academy/VCU Jahvin Carter G Fr. 6-3 175 Alcoa, Tenn. Alcoa D'Marco Dunn G Sr. 6-5 195 Tucson, Ariz. Westover (N.C.)/North Carolina Miles Goodman F Fr. 6-10 220 Seattle Southern California Academy Zach Hicks F Sr. 6-8 200 Camden, N.J. Camden Catholic/Temple Puff Johnson G/F Sr.+ 6-8 205 Moon Township, Pa. Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.)/North Carolina Nick Kern Jr. G Sr. 6-6 200 St. Louis Vashon/VCU Kachi Nzeh F So. 6-8 220 Newtown, Pa. George School/Xavier Dominick Stewart G Fr. 6-5 180 Lanham, Md. Southern California Academy Hudson Ward F Fr. 6-7 210 Edmonton, Alberta Western Canada Prep