What Kayden Mingo's Transfer Decision Says About Penn State Basketball

Mingo was supposed to change the Nittany Lions' basketball fortunes as a top freshman player.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades shares a moment with guard Kayden Mingo (4) and forward Josh Reed (10) following the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

In December, Penn State men’s basketball narrowly lost to Michigan State, and Spartans coach Tom Izzo couldn’t stop raving about a new Nittany Lion. Freshman guard Kayden Mingo played for 34 minutes, scored 11 points and nearly led Penn State to the upset. 

“Yeah, I’m a Mingo fan,” Izzo said after the Spartans’ 76-72 victory. “He just keeps his tail here and does his job, and he is going to be a fan favorite here because he can do a lot of different things. He seems to have great intelligence, and he’s a competitor. For a freshman 11 games in, that’s pretty good, man.”

But after one season with the Nittany Lions, Mingo likely is gone after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. Mingo’s representatives at Excel Sports informed Draft Express’ Jonathan Givony of the news on Wednesday.  

Mingo, who became Penn State’s starting point guard and a team captain as a freshman, is the fifth Nittany Lion to enter the portal this offseason. Penn State coach Mike Rhoades also has lost two assistants, including associate head coach Jamal Brunt, who joined Gerry McNamara’s staff at Syracuse.

NEWS: Penn State freshman Kayden Mingo will enter the transfer portal, his agency Excel Sports tells DraftExpress.

Mingo started every game in the Big Ten, averaging 13.7 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.1 steals. Will be a top PG target nationally. pic.twitter.com/aNJwgBU265

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 8, 2026

Izzo saw a “good team” in the making at Penn State with Mingo as the centerpiece, but that was contingent on Rhoades having him back for his sophomore year.

“This team is going to have some ups and downs, because that’s what young teams do,” Izzo said. “But boy, if you can hold this team together, I think this team has got a chance.”

That’s no longer the case. Mingo’s departure is a huge loss for Penn State and Rhoades, who will be in a make-or-break year next season as the program’s head coach.

Rhoades handed Mingo the keys to the program

Penn State Nittany Lions guard Kayden Mingo (4) gestures while moving with the ball during the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

As the No. 2 recruit in New York and the state’s 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year, Mingo received multiple offers. That he picked Penn State over programs like Wake Forest, Georgia, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Ole Miss was surprising. 

Mingo stepped into a lead role immediately. He was named a captain before even playing a game and became the team’s starting point guard early in camp. Rhoades talked about handing Mingo the “keys” to the program during the preseason.

Mingo led the team in minutes, assists and steals and ranked second in scoring (13.7 ppg). He was a reliable contributor, and Penn State did slightly struggle when Mingo missed a stretch in January with an injury. Had Mingo stayed for his second season, Penn State would have had something to build upon regardless of the record woes. 

After Penn State’s season ended with a loss to Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament, Mingo implied that he was looking forward to “fixing things” with the program.

“I’m very grateful and very blessed for the whole season,” he said. “I feel like God put me in a very good position with a lot of good people around me. Going into next season, I’m really looking forward to fixing things that I could do better to help the team win. Be back here and win more games, that’s the most important thing. Winning more games.”

Mingo was the highest-ranked recruit Penn State ever landed and boosted a Nittany Lions recruiting program that worked hard to land his younger brother, Dylan, who is ESPN’s ninth-ranked player nationally. 

However, Dylan Mingo committed to North Carolina in February, calling Penn State his second choice. Mingo announced his decision on Stephen A. Smith’s First Take show on ESPN.

“I chose UNC because it felt like a family environment, from the players, fans, to the coaches," Dylan Mingo told Smith. “I felt like the UNC history and everyone who played there is huge. Knowing their will to win is always at the highest level. I would love to be a part of that."

Is Penn State a desirable destination?

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades looks back toward the bench during the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Losing Mingo makes Penn State less appealing nationally, both from a recruiting and transfer perspective. Having little historical success (six NCAA Tournament appearances since 1955) to and no recent momentum (a 12-20 record last season) to lean on creates a larger challenge.

Rhoades has wanted to change the narrative at Penn State, establish consistent excitement around the basketball program and ultimately make it a desirable destination. But failing to retain top-ranked talent won't ease that task.

“We’re gonna go get guys that want to be here,” Rhoades said in January, when Penn State was still winless in the Big Ten. “And that’s what’s hard about taking over a program that doesn’t have great basketball tradition in a world where it’s complete chaos and no rules, and you could be an easy target [in the transfer portal]. But you know what? I’m not going for that easy target.”

The Nittany Lions are going to rebuild again this offseason. Mingo became the fifth Nittany Lion to enter the portal. He joined Freddie Dilione V, the team’s leading scorer, Melih Tunca, Eli Rice and Mason Blackwood. 

In addition to Brunt, Penn State also lost assistant coach Joe Crispin, who took the head job at Air Force. Penn State was trying to build its team around Mingo. Now, the Nittany Lions are headed back to the portal, having already received commitments this offseason from two more European professional players.

Prove-it year for Rhoades

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades gestures to his team against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at United Center. | David Banks-Imagn Images

How Rhoades moves forward will be pivotal under the Year 4 scrutiny.  Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft attended nearly every home game, sitting on the baseline adjacent to the Nittany Lions’ bench. In January, Rhoades talked about having Kraft’s support.

“I can walk into Pat’s office anytime and sit down and have a candid conversation with him, because we all want the same thing,” Rhoades said. “We want to build this program to make it a winner, and sometimes the speed of that is different for all of us, but the reality is that I have an AD that wants to do that.” 

It wasn’t an easy season for Rhoades, coaching one of the youngest teams in college basketball in a conference that featured four Elite Eight teams, including Michigan, the national champion. Now, Rhoades will start over and hand “the keys” to somebody else.

“The culture of college basketball is now to get older quicker, and they get bigger and stronger and older quicker,” Rhoades said. “Our league is doing that in a specific way. That’s something we have to address as we move forward, but that’s what’s great about Pat. It’s not a ‘No.’ It’s a let’s see what we can do and we have great conversations about it.”

But would Kraft consider making a change if Rhoades can’t turn things around in year four? 

“I’ll be up all night trying to figure it out and go right back at it, and we have to change some things,” Rhoades said after Penn State’s 28-point loss to Wisconsin at Rec Hall. “... I’ve been at some other places too, and you have some tough years and you got to learn from everything.

"… Building a program is really hard, but I signed up for it, man, and I believe in me. I believe in how we do things. Some of you guys may not, I don’t really care. I’ve never really cared before, but I’ll figure it out. It might kill me, but I’m going to figure it out.”

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