Penn State Basketball Gets a Transfer Portal Makeover in 2023
Penn State basketball will look a lot different this season. Between the men's and women's teams, 16 new players reside in Happy Valley, arriving largely via the transfer portal. New men’s coach Mike Rhoades and fifth-year women’s coach Carolyn Kieger discussed their overhauled rosters in Minneapolis this week at Big Ten basketball media days.
“Well, we were down to three guys, so I had no choice, right? So we just jumped right in,” Rhoades said of recruiting the portal. “Number one was not to panic. Make sure we found guys that fit me, fit our staff, fit our program and what we were trying to do. We didn't want to make any mistakes.”
Rhoades inherited quite the situation following Micah Shrewsberry's tumultuous departure to Notre Dame. Penn State saw an exodus between players graduating and entering the transfer portal. As Rhoades told reporters in Minneapolis, he added 10 players to his roster in a matter of 59 days: nine transfers and one first-year commitment.
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The job Rhoades did in the portal is more than commendable, as he brought in a handful of decorated players in the process. Among them: forward Puff Johnson and guard D’Marco Dunn from perennial contender North Carolina and guard Ace Baldwin Jr. from VCU, one of the more highly regarded players in the nation.
Rhoades highlighted Johnson specifically for being voted a team captain when discussing the potential to build a program through the portal. He also named forward Leo O’Boyle, a graduate transfer from Lafayette.
“There's quick fixes, if you want to call it, but also we're trying to get a quick fix to push our program forward quickly. But man, there's some great fits too,” Rhoades said. “I think we got a few of them for sure.”
Perhaps Rhoades' most important work regarded getting three of Shrewsberry’s recruits to stay at Penn State: guard Kanye Clary, guard Jameel Brown and forward Demetrius Lilley. Clary played extensively as a freshman, while Brown and Lilley have yet to realize their heralded potential.
“Very important. No. 1 is, I love dynamic guards and guys that can make plays with the ball in their hands, and Kanye is one of them,” Rhoades said of Clary. “To put him together with Ace Baldwin, that's a dynamic backcourt.” Rhoades added that Clary's style that fits his preference: fast and aggressive with the ball and working through a lot of ball screens.
Kieger’s squad, while not dealing with a coaching change, is 50 percent newcomers. Her aggressive approach in the portal could jumpstart a program that hasn't met expectations but improved during each year of her tenure. Penn State went 14-17 last season, doubling the number of victories in Kieger's first season of 2019-20. At Big Ten media days, Kieger was adamant that this is Penn State’s year.
“We have a chip on our shoulder this season, a chip to prove to ourselves, our fans, and the country that we belong among the nation's best,” she said. “Every year we have been gaining momentum and getting better, and I truly believe this is our year to thrive.”
Guard Ashley Owusu, a transfer from Virginia Tech, is the heavy hitter in the Lady Lions’ hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Owusu spent just one injury-plagued year as a Hokie, which came after a strong three years at Maryland. She was a third-team All-America selection, three-time All-Big Ten player and a two-time Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player recipient as Maryland won back-to-back conference titles. She also won Ann Meyers Drysdale Award in 2021, given to the top shooting guard in the nation. Her skill set should pair well with Penn State’s talented point guard duo of Makenna Marisa and Shay Ciezki.
“Our staff hit home run after home run in the transfer portal," Kieger said. "Ashley Owusu is no stranger to the Big Ten, as an All-American and the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner. We are thrilled to see her back in the Big Ten representing the blue and white. She is ready to perform on the biggest stage again and make a splash.”
Kieger also added a former Illinois player in Jayla Oden and an All-CAA Freshman Team honoree in Kylie Lavelle from Drexel. Among the most interesting transfers is Tay Valladay, whom Kieger signed as a high school recruit while coaching at Marquette. Kieger never coached Valladay at Marquette, leaving for Penn State in 2019. Valladay played the past two seasons at Virginia.
"Now in her fifth year we get to finish what we started, and I'm thrilled for the country find out the player that I always knew Taylor was," Kieger said.
The transfer portal has been good for Penn State’s men and women’s teams on paper. The test comes once their seasons start. The men tip off Nov. 6 against Delaware State, and the women get started Nov. 7 against Bucknell.
“They just want to win, so we've been putting a lot of different lineups together, and every day in practice we have two teams that are going head-to-head, and I've never had that,” Kieger said. “I usually have one team that dominates, and it's going to be really fun because we're going to have a lot of depth and a lot of competitiveness. At the end of the day, all 12 of these young ladies just want Penn State to succeed, and that's our only goal is to be back in that NCAA Tournament.”
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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.
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