Penn State hoops set for literal team-building weekend: Visit list
Three days have passed since the early weekend Blue-White Game look-ahead for Penn State basketball. In that time, Mike Rhoades and his new Nittany Lion staff have secured two commitments toward next year’s roster.
Well, one commitment, and one reaffirmation.
In an age of the transfer portal and frequent coaching turnover, virtually every player, every offseason, has a decision to make. For Penn State this year, that is encapsulated by the five true freshmen with decisions to make toward their futures. It’s also true of the transfer portal entrants from Rhoades’ former program, VCU, who are now choosing whether to follow their former head coach to Penn State.
On Easter Sunday, Ace Baldwin was the first domino to fall. The reigning Atlantic 10 conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year picked Penn State to play his final one or two seasons of college basketball.
Late on Wednesday evening, his teammate, Nick Kern, decided the same. A rising junior with length and athleticism, the 6-6, 190-pound guard/wing hybrid became the second firm commitment of Rhoades tenure at Penn State.
And, by Thursday afternoon, Kanye Clary made for a three-across jackpot. The point guard coming out of his debut season with the Nittany Lions announced officially that he’s remaining at Penn State despite the coaching change.
With those three firmly aboard for next season, Penn State is determined to spend the weekend adding more names to the list. And it is doing so with a two-fold approach.
Welcoming a quartet of visitors, Penn State is also expecting to have its current players on hand for the weekend. A meshing of committed returning players, committed transfer portal players, and transfer portal targets – both internally and externally – here is a final look at how the Nittany Lions are hoping to take shape, updated from earlier this week:
Penn State expected hoops visitors
Adrian “Ace” Baldwin – Point Guard
The reigning A10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, Ace Baldwin helped lift the Rams to a conference championship, conference tournament title, and an NCAA Tournament berth with his 12.7 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.9 rebounds over 34.9 minutes per game last season. The lifeblood of the VCU program under Rhoades, the third-year player committed to Penn State on Sunday and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Nick Kern – Combo Guard
One of Baldwin’s teammates at VCU for the past two seasons, Nick Kern saw his role grow through the course of his sophomore campaign. Coming off the bench for the first half of the season, he started the final 19 games as the Rams plowed through the A10. In the process, he put up 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while connecting on 62.0 percent of his shots. He’s a slashing wing who scores at the rim. And now he’ll be a Nittany Lion next season with two seasons of eligibility left.
Darius Maddox – Combo Guard
The Virginia Tech guard missed the last half of the season due to undisclosed personal reasons but was an established, critical piece of the Hokies’ success in 2021-22 and on the front end of the 2022-23 campaign. As a second-year contributor two years ago, Darius Maddox produced a season-high 20 points in an ACC Tournament upset win over North Carolina, and twice nailed game-winning 3-pointers for the Hokies during the season.
Before being sidelined for the final 14 games this past season, Maddox started 19 of 20 games and was averaging 29.6 minutes while scoring 8.5 points and grabbing 3.2 rebounds per game, knocking down 32.3 percent of his 3-pointers.
A freshman during the 2020 campaign in Blacksburg, Maddox has three years to play two left in his college career.
Jalen DeLoach – Forward
DeLoach started all but two games for VCU last season, notching 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. His sophomore season, all represented a massive jump from his debut in the program in 2021-22, more than doubling his points and nearly doubling his assists and rebounds.
On hand with Baldwin and Kern, two of his closest friends from VCU the past two years, each of whom is now committed to Penn State for next season, the goal this weekend is straightforward. DeLoach has other visits in mind – Indiana, Florida State, Miami and San Diego State among them – that the Nittany Lions would very much love for him to decide not to take.
Kebba Njie – Forward
Sure, it’s not technically a visit for a player to be on campus at the school he currently enrolled at. But, to Penn State basketball’s perspective, it might as well be. Njie has been linked to Indiana and Texas, as well as Notre Dame, who he’s expected to visit next week, during his time in the transfer portal, but this weekend he is expected to be on hand with the rest of the Nittany Lion family and its visitors to campus.
He’s coming out of a true freshman season starting 26 games and playing in all 37 while averaging 14.3 minutes per outing. As tantalizing for his athleticism and upside, Njie represents a massive opportunity to fit into what Rhoades and his staff want to do at Penn State.
Njie’s brother, Mo, a player at SMU, was recruited by Rhoades and his staff to play at VCU. So, a relationship is pre-existing that Penn State would love to build upon and cement with Njie’s return. Penn State’s staff has already met with the family via Zoom.
Evan Mahaffey – Wing
Ditto, Evan Mahaffey.
An athletic, 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing that can handle the ball and run the floor, and play above the rim, Mahaffey is considered a seamless fit into Rhoades’ plans at Penn State. Though he didn’t start any games last season, and sat for three as a result of the coach’s decision, Mahaffey produced 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
He also secured one of the most important boards of the season at Northwestern to set up the Nittany Lions’ stretch run through the Big Ten Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament.
Mahaffey has visited Ohio State and Dayton, but remains a top priority to Penn State’s staff. Notre Dame doesn’t appear to be a factor at this point.
Jameel Brown – Shooting Guard
The tea leaves for Jameel Brown are trending strongly in Penn State’s favor, but for the time being, he remains a second-year player in the transfer portal ahead of the 2023-24 season. The Nittany Lions would love to be able to shut that down with Brown expected to be on hand this weekend with the other visitors and his current teammates.
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