Projecting Penn State's New-Look Basketball Lineup for the 2026-27 Season

Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades targeted the portal and transfer market to build a very different starting lineup.

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Ivan Juric dunks the ball the against Northwestern Wildcats during the BigTen Tournament at the United Center. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Penn State men’s basketball started summer practice Monday after an offseason full of roster turnover. The team returned only three players, prompting head coach Mike Rhoades to shop the transfer portal and the international market to fill out the roster.

The Nittany Lions have signed eight new players so far this offseason, along with receiving commitments from international prospects Roko Prkačin and François Wibaut. Both have yet to sign as they work through the process of getting their eligibility cleared, so they haven’t joined the team for summer practices yet. 

All those additions came after Penn State saw starter Josh Reed exhaust his eligibility and nine players enter the transfer portal, including top two scorers Freddie Dilione V and Kayden Mingo. In total, the Nittany Lions lost 87.1 percent of their points scored and 87.5 percent of their minutes played from last season.

So, how will Penn State replace all that lost production? Here’s a projection for next season’s starting five plus rotational players.

Penn State’s projected starting five

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Ivan Juric (3) dunks the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats during the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center. | David Banks-Imagn Images

The starting five will be older, which Rhoades prioritized after having one of the youngest rosters in the country last season.

"You've got to be old," Rhoades said after Penn State lostto Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament. "You've got to be old, because everybody else is. The best teams in our league and the best teams in the country are old and experienced. We've got to address some of that."

Senior Jay Rodgers will likely be the starting point guard, and he’s been playing in college since the 2020-21 season at the University of New Orleans. Rodgers played the past four seasons at Central Connecticut State, where he averaged 6.9 assists per game last year. With his experience, he could play 30+ minutes per game as the Nittany Lions’ primary ball handler.

Davidson transfer Roberts Blums should be the starting shooting guard with the 3-point prowess he brings. The junior knocked down 40.7 percent of his 3-point shots last season.

Miami (Ohio) transfer Brant Byers will likely start at small forward due to his shooting abilities as well. The 6-8 redshirt junior made 39.2 percent of his 3-pointers for a team that went undefeated during the regular season. 

Penn State didn’t have this level of shooting last year. While guard Eli Rice shot 39 percent from 3-point range to lead the team, he didn’t take as many attempts as Blums and Byers, who both averaged more than five 3-point attempts per game.

In the frontcourt, power forward could be the position that’s most up in the air for the Nittany Lions’ starting five. However, Prkačin, who is 23 years old and played professionally in France this past year, should be the starter once the season begins with his experience overseas.

Rounding out the starting five will be center Ivan Jurić, the only starter to return this offseason for Penn State. The sophomore averaged 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season, and associate head coach Brent Scott believes Jurić could be a “really, really special” player.

Having more shooters on the perimeter should allow Jurić to see more space inside, so he will be a main contributor in the team’s revamped starting five.

Projected rotational players

Georgia Bulldogs forward RJ Godfrey (10) tries to get to the basket past Buffalo Bulls center Tim Oboh (33) at Stegeman Coliseum. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Penn State has less depth than Rhoades would like but still has a few players who will be key pieces in the rotation. Buffalo transfer Tim Oboh will likely be the main backup behind Jurić and could also play alongside him at power forward if the team opts for a bigger lineup.

The 6-11 junior has shot-blocking skills, averaging 1.5 blocks per game last season. That’s a unique ability on this roster, so it should help him see a significant role off the bench.

Elsewhere, Wibaut can be the backup point guard, as he’s shown ball-handling capabilities while playing in France this year. The 6-7 wing will likely see some minutes as a small forward with his potential to be a versatile piece in Penn State’s roster.

Graduate student Thomas Allard and freshman Andy Gemao can also be rotational point guards for the Nittany Lions. At 6-7, Allard boasts size for the position, while Gemao played at a prestigious high school in Canada.

Forward Aleksandar Zecevic, a 20-year-old freshman who played for a U22 team in Spain last season, could have a role in the frontcourt. He’ll fit at power forward with Jurić and Oboh taking the majority of minutes at center.

Rhoades left the door open to add more players to the roster ahead of the 2026-27 season, saying he’ll keep recruiting until he’s told he can’t. But Penn State, which will have two roster spots left once Prkačin and Wibaut sign, hasn’t made any more additions since Rhoades said that in May.

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