Mike Rhoades has accomplished a lot in his first year at Penn State.
Last year, he won the second-most Big Ten games by a first-year head coach in program history (nine with nearly an entirely new roster), secured the then-second-highest-rated recruit in program history with Miles Goodman and now has Penn State in the top 10 in multiple statistical categories.
Bold, different, aggressive & top 10 in the country on both sides of the ball #WeAre pic.twitter.com/XjKKovl4Ap
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) November 22, 2024
But this is just the beginning for the Mahonoy City, Pa. native, who has high praise for the incoming recruiting class.
“They had a lot of other great schools recruiting them,” Rhoades said Thursday, “but I also think they see the energy, the enthusiasm and the support we have in this program right now to move it forward.”
“And those are three guys, three cornerstones, that [will] help us move this [program] forward.”
Those three recruits (four-star Kayden Mingo, four-star Mason Blackwood and three-star Justin Houser) were officially signed for the 2025-26 season, making it the 20th-ranked recruiting class in the nation per 247Sports.
Mingo, the country’s 43rd-ranked player, became the highest-rated recruit to join the Penn State, but the class all together is the best to commit to PSU.
Rhoades, though, “[doesn’t] give a damn about rankings.”
“I never did. I never will,” he said. “It’s great for social media. It’s great for letting people know that we [aren’t] messing around around here. But for me, I don’t care if you’re a one-star, four-star or five-star, if you fit our program and you’re about the right stuff and you can help us move forward… there’s a place for you.”
Penn State Inks Highest-Rated Recruiting Class in Program History
Throughout the press conference, Rhoades detailed how the future Nittany Lions will do just that: move the program forward.
KAYDEN MINGO
Mingo is a combo guard currently playing for Long Island Luthern in Glen Head, N.Y.
In 12 games in the Nike EYBL Scholastic last year, he averaged 15.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and four assists. He was also efficient on his opportunities, posting 54/44/83 shooting splits.
During the spring AAU session for the PSA Cardinals, Mingo averaged 18.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3. In Peach Jam, those numbers became 15.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists on 44 percent efficiency.
4 ⭐️ Kayden Mingo commits to Penn State 🔥 #weare @_kaydenmingo pic.twitter.com/HfAv7QdNCW
— League Ready (@LeagueRDY) November 1, 2024
Rhoades on Mingo:
“… When I started building a relationship with Kayden, I was like, ‘Hey, this guy could not just be a heck of a player for us, but he could be a corner piece of us building this program’… He’s a high-level player. He’s got great talent… and I think he’s just a high-character kid. He cares about his teammates, [and] he leads by example.”
MASON BLACKWOOD
Blackwood spent two seasons at Aquinas Institute of Rochester before transferring to New Hampton Prep School.
Over his junior year, the 6-foot-7 forward averaged 14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals. With Albany City Rocks in the Nike EYBL circuit, Blackwood averaged 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, netting 45.7 of his 3s.
He has an early season highlight after hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer against the No. 1 prep school in the nation, Putnam Science.
‘25 Penn State commit Mason Blackwood scored 27, including this game-winner, for @NewHamptonHoops today at #TheNEBL pic.twitter.com/SicsfLERRR
— Pro Insight (@_proinsight) November 16, 2024
Rhoades on Blackwood:
“[Mason] will replace Nick (Kern Jr.) and Puff (Johnson) in (the) sense he can play multiple positions. He’s very physical. He plays with an edge and a motor. He loves playing defense… I think he’ll be a fan favorite quickly because of how hard he plays and the way he goes about it.”
JUSTIN HOUSER
Houser, a three-star 7-footer, is a Pennsylvania native.
Last season, he led Phelps School to runner-up status in the state championships after averaging 13 points and nine rebounds. He played his club basketball for WeR1, where he averaged 7.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.
Penn State commit Justin Houser of Phelps dropped 28 points against Darrow. pic.twitter.com/NI5RxN6ssB
— RareFootage (@RareFootageNews) November 14, 2024
Rhoades on Houser:
“What I love about Justin is (he) could really shoot the basketball being a lefty… We’ve got a very versatile 7-foot, (7-foot-1) player that’s only going to get better… You want Big Ten size, but it’s got to fit how we play… we want big guys that allow us to play against anybody in the country, but also have great versatility.”
Ranked or not, Rhoades is focused on one thing: setting up Penn State for a successful future. Whether that’s during his time or after, Rhoades believes it can start with this incoming class.
