Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions Kick Off 2026 Recruiting Class

Penn State has built a broad recruiting footprint under Rhoades over the past two years. As Penn State looks for creative ways to compete in the Big Ten, Rhoades has turned his attention toward international recruiting. The third-year Penn State coach brought in three international players to his 2025 roster.

Among them is guard Melih Tunca, a 6-5 player from Turkey who has competed for his country's national team in several European events. The Nittany Lions also signed 6-9 Slovenian forward Sasa Ciani, who played college basketball in the U.S. the past two seasons at Illinois-Chicago and Xavier.

Penn State turned to the global circuit to replenish a roster that lost five seniors who exhausted their eligibility and three freshmen to the NCAA Transfer Portal. Penn State also lost 7-foot forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who became the program's first first-round pick of the modern NBA Draft era. Rhoades recently explained the turn toward international recruiting.

“We’re recruiting all over the world," the Penn State coach said in March. "I think [in] the landscape of college athletics and college athletic recruiting, you have to be open to everything: high school kids, the portal and, of course, international. We’ve recruited international before. I have guys on our staff that have done it and have made those many trips all over the world to do that. That’s very important to us.”

Penn State went 16-15 last season and brought in the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history this year. It features Kayden Mingo, the Gatorade New York Player of the Year and the No. 39 player nationally according to ESPN.