Josh Reed is back in State College, and Penn State just got a major boost for the coming season.
The 6-foot-8 forward, who was the lone senior on the 2025-2026 team and one of Penn State’s most complete players last season, is now eligible for a fifth year of college basketball. Reed had already graduated this past spring from Penn State with a Master’s in Business Administration after spending just four years on the court.
Reed’s path to this point started at Cincinnati, where he played his first three seasons before transferring to Penn State for his senior year. He was also among the first college athletes to join a lawsuit against the NCAA arguing that members of the High School Class of 2022 should be granted a fifth season of eligibility.
That case gained momentum on July 31, when Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado issued a class-wide preliminary injunction ordering the NCAA to make athletes from that class eligible for this upcoming season.
For Penn State, Reed gives an already veteran group another proven piece. He started all season last year and finished with averages of 11.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 49% from the floor.
His best moment came on February 28 against Iowa, when he scored a career-high 25 points on 9 of 12 shooting, added 4 assists, pulled down 3 rebounds and knocked down the winning basket in PSU’s victory.
Reed’s return is a change from what he said in June, when Nittany Sports Now spoke with him and he said his playing days were over, that he was content, and that he was working for the Philadelphia 76ers on the business side of basketball.
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