Mike Rhoades has made a prominent addition to his Penn State coaching staff just one month into the offseason. Talor Battle, the Nittany Lions’ all-time leading scorer, has officially rejoined the program as an assistant coach, the team announced on Thursday.
Battle will replace Jimmy Martelli, who is set to return to VCU and coach under his brother Phil Martelli Jr., who was named the Rams’ new head coach last week. The news of Battle’s addition and Martelli’s departure was first reported by Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times.
“We are thrilled to welcome Talor and his family back to Happy Valley,” Rhoades said in a statement. “One of the all-time great Nittany Lions, Talor’s passion and appreciation for Penn State, this program and this community are unmatched. He knows the Big Ten in-and-out and his experience as both a player and coach in this conference will be highly beneficial. I have no doubt he will serve as a great leader for our players.”
Battle began his coaching career at Penn State during the 2020-21 season. After one year at his alma mater, Battle served as an assistant at Northwestern for three seasons before joining Ohio State’s staff last offseason.
“My family and I are excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Rhoades staff in Happy Valley,” Battle said. “I’m ready to get to work alongside these guys at this University that means so much to me.”
Martelli will return to VCU, where he coached for seven seasons from 2017 to 2023, before following Rhoades to the Nittany Lions two years ago.
“I always say, ‘Come here and work really hard for me and for us, and when you have opportunities to grow in your life and your profession, I’m going to help you too,’” Rhoades said on March 19. “So, I love our staff. There’s some things we’re going to change within our staff to showcase the best of us and help our guys the best we can. But we do that every year.”
Penn State is currently down nine players from this past season’s roster, with five players out of eligibility, three having entered the transfer portal and one, center Yanic Konan Niederhauser, having declared for the NBA Draft. Just four scholarship players from last season remain, but three freshmen are set to join the program in June.
The Nittany Lions concluded their season after not qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament with a 16-15 record in the second year under Rhoades.
