Penn State basketball: Year two under Mike Rhoades taking shape

The record may read one game below .500, but Mike Rhoades put forth a yeoman’s effort to turn a stripped-down Penn State basketball roster into a competitive player in the Big Ten conference in less than 10 months this season. Now, Rhoades is ready to build on the program’s foundation in year two. We’ve learned much more about what that second year will look like in recent weeks following a series of scheduling news and notes and a retooling of the Nittany Lions roster with an infusion of transfer portal talent.

Big Ten releases 2024-25 home and away opponents

This week, we got our first glimpse at the Nittany Lions’ place in the new-look Big Ten. On Wednesday, the conference released the home and away opponents for the 2024-25 season.

Penn State basketball will take on familiar foes at home, such as Ohio State, Maryland, Purdue, Nebraska, and Northwestern. The Nittany Lions will also welcome two of the Big Ten’s West Coast newcomers—Oregon and Washington—to the Bryce Jordan Center.

On the road, Penn State basketball will face both USC and UCLA. While dates for matchups have not yet been released, it seems likely these games would be scheduled for the same road trip. Penn State also faces Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin in road-only games.

The slate is rounded out with home-and-home games with Indiana, Minnesota, and Rutgers.

Finding ways to win games on the road is one of the most challenging tasks in college basketball. That obstacle undoubtedly gets more difficult this season with the introduction of cross-country treks into the equation.

“Playing on the road in college basketball — winning on the road in college basketball — is the hardest thing to do,” Mike Rhoades said in January. “And you’re doing it against really good programs [in the Big Ten], good players, and really good coaches. It’s hard.”

Penn State basketball has also reportedly scheduled several non-conference matchups recently. The Nittany Lions are expected to take on Virginia Tech in Baltimore in mid-November and then be featured in Daytona Beach’s Sunshine Slam during Thanksgiving week. Neither appears on the team’s official schedule to date.

Penn State basketball infuses talent from the transfer portal

The Nittany Lions’ roster is also starting to take form. Penn State basketball saw a wave of exits early in the transfer portal window this spring, but Mike Rhoades and his staff have added a quartet of transfer signees of their own.

The frontcourt was bolstered with the additions of Kachi Nzeh and Yanic Konan Niederhauser. Neither played extensively at their previous destinations, but they could prove valuable as a bridge while top 100 recruit Miles Goodman acclimates to the college game.

Mike Rhoades leaned on previous recruiting relationships established while at VCU to pluck guards Eli Rice and Freddie Dilione later in the cycle. The latter is a one-time top-50 recruit who picked Penn State over NC State, a team that made a run to the Final Four this year.

Even with the historical challenges facing Penn State basketball, Mike Rhoades feels the program is trending up after just one season. These next 12 months will be an opportunity to seize that momentum and, perhaps, finally, put the program on the path to sustained success.

“I know we can get it done at Penn State,” Rhoades said. “I know it’s going to be really hard. I know I have some great support. I know there’s some things that are different right now when people are dealing with men’s basketball, Penn State basketball, than before. And I think I have people that are really looking to help me push the envelope to move this program forward. I feel that, and I’m excited about that. And I’m not going to stop that.

You’re gonna have to kill me before you stop me from trying to move this program forward.”