Penn State basketball will be taking on a Power Five program near the beginning of the season.
Per a report by college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Penn State will play Virginia Tech in Baltimore, part of a doubleheader that also features Villanova and Virginia.
NEWS: Villanova will play Virginia and Virginia Tech will face Penn State in a doubleheader next November at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, according to multiple sources. https://t.co/0lllGT5RoM
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 22, 2024
This will be the first time Penn State’s played Virginia Tech since Mike Rhoades took over as head coach but it hasn’t been long since their last meeting.
PSU took on VT in November 2022 under Micah Shrewsberry and lost a tight one 61-59.
That Penn State team went onto so big things, making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 and winning a game there for the first time since 2001. To make it back to the tournament, Rhoades and company will likely have to get off to a fast start. The 2022-23 team was 13-4 in out-of-conference play, giving it leeway to get to the tournament with a 10-10 conference record and three Big Ten tourney wins. This year’s squad could get to that level as well.
But a lot of that could depend on what Penn State’s best player, Ace Baldwin, decides to do.
Baldwin, the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year this past season, has a year of eligibility left.
Since he hasn’t declared for the NBA Draft yet, the common thought is that Baldwin will either stay at Penn State or enter the transfer portal.
Baldwin recently announced that he’ll be staying with Penn State’s NIL collective, Happy Valley United, which could be a good sign for PSU. But he hasn’t made anything official yet, so we’ll wait and see.
