Penn State Men’s Basketball made it official today that 6-foot-9 forward Tibor Mirtic of Ljubljana, Slovenia will be a Nittany Lion this upcoming season. Mirtic is the fourth international talent that Coach Rhoades and his staff have brought on board this year. He comes to Penn State after playing the 2024-2025 season with Krka Novo Mesto, a team that plays in both Slovenia’s top professional league, Liga OTP banka, and the ABA League. Mirtic averaged 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 26 games in Krka’s Liga OTP banka contests while shooting 53.0% from two-point range and 41.7% from three-point range.
I asked Coach Rhoades during his press conference on Tuesday if he was making a special notion to dip into the international talent pool this year. He responded, “Oh yeah, you can just see in what we’re doing. We gotta go everywhere near and far to find players. Players that fit what we’re trying to do and that are gettable. That’s just the name of the game. So if that means we have to scour the whole world, then so be it.”
Mirtic will join international players Ivan Juric, Melih Tunca, and Sasa Ciani in Happy Valley this year.































