Penn State men’s basketball coach Mike Rhoades didn’t dance around the subject on Tuesday: the Nittany Lions are short on NIL resources, and he knows it.
Speaking on a Zoom call during an offseason media availability, Rhoades first described Penn State as “very limited in a lot of resources” while explaining the program’s effort to bring in older talent. When the question turned directly to whether the Nittany Lions had enough NIL money to land the kind of players needed to compete in the Big Ten, he was even more direct.
“We're at the bottom [of the conference],” Rhoades said. “No coaches are going to say they have enough, right?
Everybody wants more in this arms race, this and that. It is what it is.
You got whatever you're given, you got to try to do the best that you can with it, and make no excuses, and figure it out.”
That blunt assessment comes after a rough 2024-25 season for a Penn State team that was among the youngest in college basketball. The Nittany Lions finished 12-20 overall and 3-17 in Big Ten play, then exited the conference tournament with a first-round loss to Northwestern as the No. 18 seed.
The roster leaned heavily on freshmen - eight of them, in fact - and returning sophomore center Ivan Jurić said that lack of experience showed up in the close games. One of the key young pieces from that team, point guard Kayden Mingo, has since transferred to Baylor.
Rhoades said he took that lesson seriously and does not want a repeat of last season’s age profile.
“I never want to be the youngest team in Power 4 basketball ever again,” he said.
That reality shaped Penn State’s offseason approach. The focus shifted toward the transfer portal and older players, and Rhoades added six transfers who each have at least two seasons of eligibility left. Even with that move, he made clear that Penn State is still operating far below what he sees elsewhere in the Big Ten.
“We've got to find a way to make the best of it and go from there,” Rhoades said. “What teams are doing in our league, and what we're not doing, are totally different.
It is what it is, just got to make the best of it. But I've said it, I'm not making any excuses.
Just when your back's up against the wall compared to what others are doing, no excuses. Got to figure it out."
Rhoades also pointed to the broader shift in the conference, saying the Big Ten got “bigger and older and deeper with older guys.” He cited Michigan’s national championship run as an example, noting that the Wolverines used a starting lineup built around experienced and talented transfers.
Michigan beat Penn State twice last season, including a 110-69 win in Ann Arbor.
For Penn State, the hope is that the new mix of veterans can make conference play more manageable. Rhoades said the staff went after players with college experience and believes the program did well with the resources it had.
“We were trying to get some older guys, guys with experience, and find a way to get them here, and I think we did a good job of that with what we have,” Rhoades said. “Some of these guys have played a lot of college basketball. They're just taking a huge step to play in the Big 10, but hopefully with maturity and guys having that experience under their belt, that's going to help us.”
Jurić, one of only three returning Nittany Lions, said the biggest difference in this year’s group is experience. He said last season’s team had talent, but not enough seasoning to survive the grind.
Rhoades agreed that standing still is not an option in the current college sports landscape.
“you're going backwards” if the team stays the same, he said.
Penn State’s exact NIL standing within the Big Ten remains unclear, but the athletic department reported spending $3 million on men’s basketball NIL during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Rhoades said he understands the challenge, but he also knows the job in front of him.
“When the rich keep getting richer, you … just got to figure it out,” Rhoades said. “That's how it is, so I'm going to continue to fight for our program as best we can, and in a respectful and classy way. It's all about the players that we have here, the guys that want to be here, and they're going to work super hard for us and represent us the right way.”
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