Penn State men’s basketball is already losing five seniors who were out of eligibility. And now, the Nittany Lions will be tasked with filling another vacancy with guard Jahvin Carter set to enter the transfer portal, coach Mike Rhoades confirmed on Wednesday. Recruits Zone’s Blake Smith was the first to report the news.
A former three-star recruit from Tennessee, Carter averaged 2.1 points across 26 games as a freshman this past season. He scored a season-high 12 points in a 103-54 win over UMBC on Nov. 8, but failed to reach a double-digit scoring tally in any game over the remainder of the season.
“I’ve got nothing but glowing respect for Jahvin, and I appreciate everything he did for this year,” Rhoades said. “Yeah, it’s gonna happen and this is the landscape we’re in. For us, that’s something that we have to go recruit this spring and make sure we have enough handlers in our program and guards and all that. So, we’ll do that.”
Carter will become the fourth guard to depart Rhoades’ program this offseason, joining two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin Jr., Nick Kern Jr. and D’Marco Dunn. Returning starter Freddie Dilione V, first-year Dominick Stewart and incoming four-star freshman Kayden Mingo are currently the only guards on the projected 2025-26 roster.
With five seniors departing, three freshmen incoming and Carter entering the transfer portal, Penn State will be tasked with adding at least four players via either the transfer portal or international market ahead of next season.
Rhoades compiled a 16-15 record in his second season with the Nittany Lions, who opted out of the postseason after not qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament. Rhoades has a 32-32 record since becoming Penn State’s head coach following the 2022-23 season, the last year the Nittany Lions qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
