Penn State basketball freshman Jahvin Carter is entering the transfer portal, per Blake Smith of Recruits Zone.
Head coach Mike Rhoades confirmed this report during his end-of-season media availability Wednesday.
“I had a great conversation with Jahvin this week, and I have nothing but great things to say about him,” Rhoades said. “He’s an awesome young man. Pleasure to coach this year. Awesome family. Loved his family and the way they go about it.
“We had an open conversation earlier. … Jahvin was looking for something he felt was out there, and I’m ok with that. … Even if you agree or don’t agree, you have a conversation and kids got to do what they feel is best for them and their future and their opportunity because they only get to do this one time. … I got nothing but glowing, respect for Jahvin.”
Carter — a former three-star recruit and 3,000-point scorer from Alcoa, Tennessee — made his decision to enter the portal after appearing in 26 games for the Nittany Lions. He played a total of 215 minutes and averaged 2.1 points on 32.8% field-goal shooting and 32.4% 3-point shooting.
Rhoades further commented on how he and his staff now have to focus on filling Carter’s void.
“That’s something we got to go recruit this spring and go and make sure we have enough handlers in our program and guards and all that,” he said.
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Carter joins Ace Baldwin Jr. and D’Marco Dunn as three guards that Penn State basketball will be losing this year. Other notable senior departures for Rhoades and his staff include Zach Hicks, Puff Johnson and Nick Kern Jr. With the portal opening on March 24, Rhoades has a clear idea of who he wants to recruit.
“No. 1 is you always want to get a level of talent,” Rhoades said. “… We all know talent, right? … We need size and girth. The one thing that I had to learn even more is the level of size one through five. … We could still play the style I want to play being bigger and stronger and taller and more girth. … We want to make sure we’re getting guys that can shoot the ball at a high clip for sure. Those are the things we’re hitting hard.”
One player that has that desired “size and girth” is Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who Rhoades will work on keeping at Penn State.
Konan Niederhauser had a career year in his first season with the Nittany Lions, as he averaged 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and a conference-leading 2.3 blocks. With one year of eligibility remaining for Konan Niederhauser and opportunities in the transfer portal, Rhoades is focused on continuing to build his relationship with the Swiss big man.
“Our job is about building relationships and having clear, really good communication with our guys,” he said. “… And we’re doing that with Yanic and his family. … And we’re going to continue those conversations all the time and with all of our players. … At this time of the year, it’s not just recruiting guys that are out there — high school kids and kids in the portal — it’s having conversations with your players on making sure, as you move forward, everybody’s on the same page.”
Penn State basketball finished the 2024-25 season 16-15 overall with a 6-14 Big Ten record.
