Penn State men’s basketball has picked up a trio of players out of the transfer portal in recent days that will immediate impact the Nittany Lions’ depth and outlook heading into the 2024 season still months away. While things can continue to change in an ever fluid landscape of college sports, Penn State is now up to 12 players accounted for heading into the summer with room for one more — two if Ace Baldwin Jr. opts not to return. Whatever the case might be there, here is a bit of a roster reset as the dust settles on a busy week.
INCOMING TRANSFER PORTAL
Eli Rice: An interesting product of the transfer portal, Rice, a guard, is the first Penn State men’s basketball transfer to have come from a Big Ten team, joining the Nittany Lions after a season at Nebraska. At 6-foot-8 and 215 pounds, Rice brings three seasons of eligibility with him but is also coming off an injury. Rice, who announced his transfer to Penn State on Thursday, shot 37% from three and 41.3 percent from the field in his 17 appearances as a true freshman. He missed the final 13 games of the year with that ankle injury.
Kachi Nzeh: More incoming size, the 6-foot-8 center heads to Penn State by way of Xavier with three seasons of eligibility remaining. He averaged just 2.5 points per game in just under 10 minutes per game. His best showing so far at the collegiate level of a 13-point, six-rebound effort against Georgetown. He is a Pennsylvania product out of Upper Darby, where he was coached by former Nittany Lion Ben Luber. He was named the Philadelphia Sports Digest Non-PIAA Player of the Year. At one point the 247 Network had tabbed Nzeh as the state’s second-best product and a four-star recruit according to the site’s composite rankings. Nzeh announced his transfer to Penn State at the end of March.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser: Up there for best name in program history, the 7-footer checks in at 255 pounds out of Northern Illinois, where he appeared in 47 games over the past two seasons. He played in 27 games in 2023-24, averaging just over 7.3 points per contest with a 54.1% shooting rate. He managed just over two blocks per game and scored in double figures nine times as a sophomore. Announcing his transfer on Tuesday, he comes to Penn State with plenty of size and two years of eligibility remaining.
INCOMING FRESHMEN
Jahvin Carter: A 6-foot-2, 175 pound combo guard out of Tennessee, Carter is rated a three star prospect by all relevant recruiting outlets. Carter picked up offers from Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee State and Appalachian State among others. Good depth addition for team that will need guards down the road.
Dominick Stewart: Another combo guard in the fold, Stewart hits the scales at 6-foot-5, 180 pounds playing out of southern California. Butler, California, Creighton, George Mason. Stewart is originally from Baltimore giving him far more east coast ties than his high school bio might lead you to believe. Stewart is teammates with fellow incoming freshman Miles Goodman, a plus for some early chemistry.
Hudson Ward: The Canadian product gives Penn State a bit of international flair once again and the 6-foot-7, 210 small forward also gives the Nittany Lions some depth at that position even with the well known commodities already on the roster. Ward had picked up offers from places as far away as Florida and San Jose, but State College is still *only* a 34 hour car ride back to Edmonton.
Miles Goodman: The best piece of Penn State’s 2024 class and another prospect with west coast ties, the Seattle native is rated a four-star prospect and the No. 96 player in the cycle according to the 247 Network. Goodman is a 6-10 center and could provide some immediate depth and production this upcoming season, although at 210 pounds, he would probably stand to put on a bit of weight. Goodman is high school teammates with Dominick Stewart.
RETURNING
D’Marco Dunn: It was a bit of an up and down year for Dunn who showcased a lot of potential but also showcased a few shortcomings in his game. Dunn can hit the three but couldn’t quite figure it out on a consistent basis. In general Dunn’s game has resulted in more good than bad, but his minutes and his production fluctuated a bit too much after a three game stretch of solid play in the middle of the season.
Zach Hicks: Hicks had a seven game stretch of double figure scoring but struggled a bit in the final five games of the year scoring, 2, 6, 2, 20 and 11 points respectively in those games. Hicks gives Penn State a legitimate threat from beyond the arc and solid rebounding to make him one of the better two-way players on the roster. Even with a bit of a slide Hicks overwhelmingly finished the season in better form than how he started it. Don’t be surprised if he picks up where he left off on that front.
Nick Kern Jr.: The duo of Hicks and Kern Jr were a solid compliment to Ace Baldwin Jr throughout the year with Kern Jr getting to double figures on 12 occasions and providing the Nittany Lions with plenty of toughness throughout the season. Kern Jr rounded out into an efficient scorer going 54.7% from the field on the year. He and Hicks stand to be a cornerstone to every night starting lineups in 2024.
Puff Johnson: Johnson came to Penn State with a lot of expectations and never quite found his footing to the degree fans were hoping for. An injury didn’t help that cause any either but Johnson id score in double-figures three of the final four games of the year and generally played his best basketball of his short Penn State career the final stretch of the season. Johnson’s return is a good thing for Penn State and it seems very likely that a second year in the program will only help him become a more consistent player each night. An interesting aside, Johns recorded just four turnovers last year and has 18 total to his name through four seasons of play.
TBD:
Ace Baldwin Jr.: The most important date here is April 27, the early entry deadline for the NBA Draft process. While Baldwin hasn’t announced it yet, his involvement with Penn State NIL groups and a simple fact that he hasn’t yet announced his intentions to test the draft waters indicate that Penn State’s star guard is leaning toward a return. Will he? In theory he can enter the draft process and return as long as he removes his name by May 29th. Penn State’s expectations for next season hinge in no small part on what he decides to do.
