Mike Rhoades heads into his fourth season at Penn State with the pressure dialed up. The Nittany Lions are 40-52 overall since he took over for Micah Shrewsberry, and their 18-42 mark in Big Ten games tells the bigger story. After another postseason exodus in the transfer portal era, Penn State had to rebuild a large part of its scoring punch, and Rhoades went shopping in the portal and overseas to plug the gaps around returnees Josh Reed and Ivan Juric.
Reed and Juric are the names to know at the top of the roster. Reed, a 6-foot-8 forward, put up 11.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and should carry a much bigger load.
Juric, a 7-foot forward, flashed promise as a freshman with averages of 10.5 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds. The backcourt also got help from Brant Byers, a Miami (Ohio) transfer who has shot 40% from 3-point range over his career.
The international flavor on this roster jumps out immediately. Penn State has seven players from six countries: Serbia, Latvia, England, France and the Philippines all show up on the depth chart, with Juric and forward Roko Prkacin representing Serbia; guard Robert Blums from Latvia; forward Tim Oboh from England; forward Francois Wibaut from France; forward Aleksandar Zecevic from Serbia; and freshman guard Andy Gemao from the Philippines. Rhoades is counting on that group to give this team a jolt, because in a league like the Big Ten, the rebuild has to show up fast.
There are at least a few early chances to see what this group can do. Penn State opens Nov. 2 at home against Canisuis, then gets an in-state measuring stick against Pittsburgh on Nov. 8 in Philadelphia.
The nonconference slate gets more serious with the Battle for Atlantis in the Bahamas, where Memphis waits along with either Wake Forest or Mississippi State. Big Ten play begins Dec. 12 at preseason No.
3 Illinois, and the late stretch is not friendly, either, with road trips to preseason Top 25 teams USC and UCLA.
A couple of names already flashed in exhibition play. Blums scored 17 points and hit 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range in a win over St.
Bonaventure. Thomas Allard, who transferred in from Alabama-Huntsville, added 18 points and eight rebounds, and his 6-7 size could cause problems for opponents on the wing.
Penn State has 10 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, but only three since 2000. The most pressing issue this season may be the one that showed up last year: rebounding. The Nittany Lions finished last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at minus-6.6, and that weakness will have to be fixed if this roster is going to turn the corner.
In Other News...
Penn States 2027 QB Search Just Got More Interesting
Penn States quarterback work in the Class of 2027 has already taken a turn, with Will Wood flipping his commitment to Boston College and leaving the Nittany Lions back in the market. The move adds another layer to a position group the staff is still actively sorting through, and it puts even more attention on how Penn State plans to shape that class moving forward.
One of the names now in the mix is Ben Rolapp, a Boston College commit who has drawn multiple offers and followed up a strong 2025 season with a growing recruiting profile. Penn States offer to Rolapp makes the picture a little more complicated, and it underscores how the Nittany Lions are continuing to chase quarterback options even as the board keeps shifting around them. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Faces Real Pressure As Offensive Concerns Keep Growing
Penn State gets Purdue at Beaver Stadium in a spot where the backdrop matters as much as the matchup. The Nittany Lions are carrying a four-game Big Ten losing streak, while Purdue arrives with an 11-game skid against Penn State, and that contrast alone says plenty about where both programs are headed entering the weekend. Barry Odom has already been talking about getting his team ready for the noise and pressure of one of the leagues tougher road environments, which only adds to the sense that this is a game Penn State has to handle with a little more purpose than it has shown lately.
Offensively, the bigger question is whether the Nittany Lions can start looking more like themselves again. Rocco Becht has battled turnover issues, but there is still expectation around him to settle in and clean things up, and there is some added hope at receiver with Koby Howard potentially back after missing four games. For a team trying to stop a slide and restore confidence, those are the kinds of pieces that matter, even if the broader problems have been too stubborn to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State May Need Arrington Back Sooner Than Fans Expected
Penn State has spent much of the season trying to piece together its edge-rusher rotation, and the latest availability report only underscored how thin that room can get. LaVar Arrington II was sidelined for the first seven games after knee surgery, and with Max Granville already out for the year, the staff has had to keep sorting through a group that also includes young players such as Alexander McPherson and Yvan Kemajou.
Against Purdue in Week 9, Arrington was absent from the availability report, a small but notable development for a defense still managing multiple injuries and a crowded injury list overall. For Penn State, the question is no longer just when Arrington gets back, but how quickly the Nittany Lions need him once he does, given the way the depth chart has been tested at one of the most demanding spots on the field. [Read more 🡒]