Penn State’s men’s basketball rebuild is leaning hard into experience, and the first look at the Nittany Lions’ projected starting five shows exactly why.
Head coach Mike Rhoades has already said the program doesn’t invest enough to truly compete, and in the NIL era that gap matters even more. The Big Ten’s top rosters are reportedly being built at a cost that reaches well beyond what Penn State is spending, which helps explain why Rhoades is back for a fourth season after a 12-win campaign in 2025-26 and a last-place finish in the league. With nine transfer portal departures, including Kayden Mingo and Freddie Dilione V, the answer this offseason was to prioritize older, proven pieces over upside.
At point guard, that means Jay Rodgers, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound fifth-year player who has taken a winding route through New Orleans, Cochise College, and Central Connecticut State. Rodgers is 25 now, and he arrives after averaging 11 points and 6.9 assists in 30 minutes per game last season. He looks like the likely primary ball-handler.
On the wing, Penn State brought in shooting. Robert Blums, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound third-year guard, shot 40.7% from three last season at Davidson while launching nearly six attempts per game. The Latvian-born Blums gives Rhoades exactly the kind of floor spacing he wanted after one of the youngest rosters in the country a year ago.
The other wing spot projects to Brant Byers, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound fourth-year forward who was an important piece for Miami (OH) last season. He, too, lived beyond the arc, taking more than five threes a game and knocking them down at nearly a 40% clip. In the First Four win over SMU, he went 4-9 from deep and finished with 19 points.
The most intriguing name on the roster is Roko Prkačin, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward who signed in August and is expected to be eligible for the 2026-27 season. The 24-year-old has already built a long professional résumé, debuting at 15 and playing in top leagues in Spain and France.
Last season with Nanterre 92 in France, he averaged 10 points, 4.3 rebounds, and one assist per game. Penn State sees him as its most talented player, a multi-skilled frontcourt piece who can attack in a straight line, score from the mid-post, and finish with a polished jump shot and decent touch.
At center, Ivan Jurić is the lone returner who brings production back from last season. The 7-foot, 250-pound second-year big man averaged 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds, and his 0.2 blocks per game somehow still led the team.
He isn’t much of a rim protector, but he does give Penn State a reliable interior scorer. If his outside shot keeps developing, he could become a more versatile and efficient forward who plays around 30 minutes a night.
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