Penn State basketball has officially added VCU transfers Ace Baldwin and Nick Kern to its roster, the team announced via Twitter Tuesday afternoon
It's official ✔️
Welcome to the Penn State family, @yeah_ace3!#WeAre | https://t.co/fR9S7rOEHL pic.twitter.com/52xcnBpdBL
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) April 18, 2023
Officially signed ✍️
Welcome to the Penn State family, @TheBigTickettt!#WeAre | https://t.co/fR9S7rOEHL pic.twitter.com/a4NpzUueHq
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) April 18, 2023
Both players played for new Penn State coach Mike Rhodes when he was the boss at VCU.
Baldwin, last year’s A-10 Player of the Year and defensive player of the year, committed to Penn State Easter Sunday.
Kern did the same three nights later. Kern (6-foot-6) gives Penn State needed size. He averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game last season, helping VCU to the A-10 regular-season and tournament championships. VCU got a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell to No. 5 St. Mary’s in the first round. Kern also has two years of eligibility left.
In a statement, Rhoades called Baldwin “a proven successful college basketball player, point guard and leader.”
“We can’t wait to get him on campus and get to work,” the statement read.
Of Kern, Rhoades said he “brings so many things to our program both on and off the court and is another great fit for our basketball family here at Penn State.”
Baldwin became just the fourth player in A-10 history to sweep the conference’s Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Baldwin was also an all-conference honoree as a sophomore, earning second-team honors. Before that, he was named to the A-10 all-rookie team, starting all 26 games as a freshman.
This follows up a good piece of news from Monday, when Jameel Brown announced he was withdrawing his name from the transfer portal and returning to Penn State.
Brown is a big retention for new head coach Mike Rhoades who will be without the top five scorers from this past Penn State season, all of which graduated. Three players, including Brown, from Penn State’s class of 2022 entered the portal as well, but Brown joins Kanye Cleary as the second player to announce his return.
