Penn State Hits the Transfer Portal Running This Spring

It’s been a busy spring for incoming Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades, who has been retooling the Nittany Lion roster on the fly.

The former VCU coach already brought over a few of his guys about a month ago, with the news that Nick Kern Jr. and Adrian Baldwin Jr. were following their head coach to State College. Baldwin is a 6’1” guard that averaged 12.7 points and 5.8 assists per game while Kern is a 6’6” wing that averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game.

Since then Rhodes has added an additional five transfers over the past several weeks:

• RayQuawndis Mitchell (Kansas City)
• Leo O’Boyle (Lafayette)
• Qudus Wahab (Georgetown)
• Puff Johnson (North Carolina)
• Zach Hicks (Temple)

As a senior RayQuawndis Mitchell averaged 17.3 points per game for the Kansas City Roos. He was likely targeted for his ability to score, though he was a bit high volume and inefficient this past season. In 2022-23 Mitchell shot 34.5% from the field on 14.6 shots per game, 30.5% from three on 8.1 three pointers and committed more than three turnovers per game. Penn State will be the fourth school Mitchell plays for, with the guard playing a season at Kansas City, UIC and Idaho.

Former Lafayette forward Leo O’Boyle averaged 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in his senior season. O’Boyle is likely being brought in for his ability to shoot the ball, hitting 40.7% of his three pointers in 2022-23.

Qudus Wahab is once again on the move, this time landing at Penn State. The 6’11” center spent his first two seasons with Georgetown before starting at Maryland in 2021-22. He then transferred back to Georgetown last year before reentering the transfer market this spring. The big averaged 9.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and should have an immediate impact inside for Penn State.

Former four-star recruit and North Carolina forward Puff Johnson transferred into Penn State in late April. In a reserve role for the Tar Heels he averaged 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in just under 16 minutes an outing. He only shot 38.7% from the field and 28.3% from three, failing to make the leap some expected him to make from his sophomore season. Nonetheless he’s a former four star recruit that could potentially piece things together at Penn State.

Former starting wing Zach Hicks also landed at Penn State after transferring from Temple. In his sophomore season he averaged 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He’s a capable shooter from three, though his numbers dipped a bit last year down to 35.6%. He shot most of his shots from the beyond the arc, with 7.0 of his 9.2 field goal attempts per game being three pointers. He should bring some three point shooting to the Penn State backcourt, though his inability to create shots inside was a major weak point in his two seasons with the Owls.