Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520787
4 2 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M reestablished a connection and built the relationship from there. "They've always seen my potential and what I can do. And they know that my season in Nebraska last year wasn't a representation of how good I am and what I can do," Rice said. "Once I hit the portal, they were one of the first teams to call because they know. They've seen me grow up and my development. They know firsthand I didn't get to show half of what I could do." He described himself as a versatile three-level scorer. Rice can also make plays and create for teammates offen- sively. In addition, he rebounds and de- fends, and he has Big Ten experience that is valued by Penn State's staff. Freddie Dilione V G | R-So. | 6-5 | 195 Dilione was a four-star shooting guard in the 2022 recruiting class, listed No. 43 nationally in the On3 Industry Ranking. He spent his first season of college bas- ketball at Tennessee, but on April 24, Dil- ione announced he would be continuing his career at Penn State. Rhoades' relationship with Dilione dates back to his junior season at Word of God Christian Academy in Fayetteville, N.C. Rhoades was recruiting the dynamic guard for VCU at the time but lost out to the Volunteers. Dilione enrolled at Tennessee in Janu- ary 2023 and took a redshirt that year. He played in 18 games last season, averaging 1.7 points and 0.8 assists over 5.2 min- utes per game. While those statistics were modest, VolQuest reporter Grant Ramey saw a player who has multiple tools. "I love Freddie Dilione's upside, and I think Penn State fans will as well," Ramey said. "He's extremely talented on the of- fensive end. He can create his own shot, can score at all three levels, and can play on the ball or off. And, he has the needed confidence to do all of the above." A capable ball-handler, Dilione pro- vides Penn State with much-needed depth as an "in a pinch" point guard be- hind Baldwin and true freshman Jahvin Carter coming into the 2024-25 season. ■ Nittany Lions' Big Ten Slate Deemed League's Toughest Penn State has learned its home and away opponents for the 2024-25 Big Ten season. The Nittany Lions will welcome Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue and Washing- ton to the Bryce Jordan Center and will travel to Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin. PSU will face Indiana, Minnesota and Rutgers at home and on the road. Following the Big Ten's schedule release on May 1, BetOhio.com added some context to the pic- ture by grading the difficulty of each slate. BetOhio's system assigned points to opponents based on their national rankings, as well as the quality of their recruiting and transfer classes. It also took into account whether the matchups will be home or away. According to BetOhio, Penn State has the toughest Big Ten schedule. The Nittany Lions topped all conference teams with 44 total points for their slate. Behind them, Ohio State checked in with 43 points, while Michigan, Minnesota, USC, UCLA and Wisconsin were locked in a five-way tie for third with 41 points apiece. Rounding out the top half of the Big Ten were Oregon and Washington, with 38 schedule points each. On the bottom half of the conference schedule rankings, Purdue had 37 points at No. 10. Tied for 11th were Iowa and Michigan State with 36 points each. Nebraska, Northwestern and Rutgers were tied for 13th with 34 points. Maryland (33 points), Illinois and Indiana (32 points) rounded out the rankings. Penn State is set to face seven conference teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2024: na- tional runner-up Purdue, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan State and Oregon. The Nittany Lions' nonconference schedule is also starting to come into focus. First reported by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Penn State is set to face Buffalo this year on a date to be determined. The Bulls join Virginia Tech, with that game set to be played in Baltimore on Nov. 15 at CFG Bank Arena. In addition, PSU will play in the 2024 Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Fla., beginning Nov. 25. The eight-team tournament has two four-team brackets. Participants include Clemson, San Francisco and Fordham. No matchups have been determined for the three-game tournament yet. — Nate Bauer Swingman Eli Rice had been recruited by Mike Rhoades coming out of IMG Academy in Florida. He ended up sign- ing with Nebraska but left for PSU after just one season in Lincoln. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS Listed in the On3 Industry Ranking as the No. 43 overall prospect in the 2022 class, guard Freddie Dilione V spent a year and a half at Tennessee before deciding to move on. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS