Penn State men’s basketball guard Jameel Brown has entered the transfer portal, according to Verbal Commits continuing some early postseason roster turnover as head coach Mike Rhoades looks to enter his season year with the program. Brown is the fifth Nittany Lion to hit the portal, joining Favour Aire, Kanye Clary, Bragi Guðmundsson, and Demetrius Lilley. Of the five, Clary was the only inevitable entry after being dismissed from the program near the end of the regular season. The remaining likely had varying degrees of future impact but none mark the loss any obvious future major minute contributors.
Brown’s departure is the latest chapter in a long and winding road having originally verbally committed to Purdue, having been primarily recruited by assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry. Following Shrewsberry’s hiring at Penn State, Brown would eventually join him in State College after a briefly opening his recruitment. Brown opted not to follow Shrewsberry after his former head coach departed for the same job at Notre Dame. With the departures of Brown, Lilley and Clary, no players remain on the roster from the Shrewsberry era.
This past season was about as up-and-down as the rest of his early career averaging 10.1 minutes per game, recording four points, .3 assists, and .7 rebounds per game. An early season injury derailed Brown’s place in the rotation and the emergence of several other players in his absence hindered Brown’s spot in the Rhoades’ equation for the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions are slated to welcome three freshman this offseason with at least five scholarships to work with between recruiting and the transfer portal. Rhoades and company are mostly awaiting the statuses of Ace Baldwin Jr. and Puff Johnson who are both able to exercise an extra year of eligibility but have no yet indicated their intentions publicly.
