Penn State football isn’t the only program on campus attempting to navigate its way through a pandemic.
Part of the athletic department’s phased return to campus this summer, the Nittany Lion men’s basketball program filtered its way back to the area on June 22 for a mandatory quarantine, then moved into a voluntary ramping up period of strength and conditioning through the first half of July.
Following the guidance of the NCAA Division I Council, then, the Nittany Lions finally returned to organized, on-court skill instruction, with the coaching staff present, beginning on July 20.
So what’s the latest word from the program as it prepares ahead of its possible 2020-21 campaign?
Let’s get into some news and notes we’re hearing from the hardwood, here:
1) I’m going to start with the schedule because this is always interesting now that situations seem to change daily due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Bottom line, with the *Ivy League announcing that it has axed sports until at least January 1 (and Patriot canceling through the fall, winter sports still TBD), it’s already understood that Penn State has a series of nonconference schedule challenges if the Big Ten were to commit to playing that 11-game out of conference slate.
Well, it’s sounding more and more like the league is prepared to concede that ship has already sailed.
Instead, what I’m hearing is that there is a proposal on the table (of which I’m sure there are also others) that completely cuts out nonconference opponents, but bulks up the traditional Big Ten campaign. With flexibility a key component to the proposal, each conference team would play a 26-game slate, beginning sometime in December, that would see a full, conference-wide, play-everyone format.
This is all working under the premise that programs - coaches and players - are going to become infected with the virus. If the premise is to pull the plug as soon as someone gets infected, in a non-bubble format, then obviously all of this is pretty much dead on arrival.
But, if universities can stomach some level of infection in which one on any team leads to a mandatory quarantine, and postponements in the schedule as a result, there seems to be some level of appetite to at least try to give it a go. Just as an example, if Penn State has a COVID case and is set to play Minnesota, and Michigan has a COVID case and is set to play Illinois, the conference would quickly work to amend the schedule to have Minnesota and Illinois play in that spot, with make-up games scheduled during open dates down the line.
This might not be what Big Ten basketball looks like in 20-21, and in fact, it could be far from it, but the takeaway here is that motivation remains high to try to find a way to make this work.
At least for now.
2) In the midst of all of Penn State’s return to action this month, the July 13 announcement that junior college transfer Abdou Tsimbila had finally been allowed to enroll at the university was a monster.
It’s well-understood at this point that given the departures of Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens from last year’s NCAA Tournament-bound team, this is a program with an immediate size concern for the 2020-21 season. Senior forward John Harrar returns as the biggest body on the roster at 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, with rising senior and deep bench player Trent Buttrick next up at 6-8, 240.
Without Tsimbila, the Nittany Lions’ size quickly peters off to incoming freshman guard Caleb Dorsey (6-7, 230), redshirt freshman Pat Kelly (6-7, 215), and sophomore shooter Seth Lundy (6-6, 219).
But, with him, coming off a year at Harcum College in which he practiced but didn’t play, maintaining his eligibility to play four seasons the next four years, Penn State gets an instant boost in the frontcourt. He’s 6-foot-8, 235 pounds, and he’s got lots of athleticism.
Certainly, Harrar is set up to see max minutes as Penn State’s big this season, but Tsimbila represents the type of shot-blocking and dunker that doesn’t really exist elsewhere on the roster. Early word out of Penn State’s skills practices is that Tsimbila is bouncy and, while still young and obviously has a long way to go, he’s coachable and has the benefit of age and experience to help along the learning process at these early stages.
Still, even with Harrar, Buttrick, and Tsimbila available, with Dorsey poised to follow a similar trajectory of limited, but gradually increasing minutes as the season goes along, Penn State still has to find at least a few post-up buckets to keep opponents honest on the defensive end. Because, as it stands, they're not going to be.
3) This leads to what might be the most obvious point to make about what Penn State has currently on the roster with its shooters.
They’re (almost) all back.
Myreon Jones hit 56 of 139 last season as a sophomore. Myles Dread knocked down 65 of 204 (31.9 percent) and had the most volume from deep of anyone on the team. Lundy hit a solid 34 of 87 (39.1) in his debut season. And between Jamari Wheeler (a respectable 14 of 36) and Izaiah Brockington (12 of 45), the Nittany Lions have a couple more pieces expected to continue their offensive development this offseason.
I’m not going to blow smoke about Wheeler - through three years, it’s plain to see what his strengths and weaknesses are - but he’s said to be continuing to progress a little bit offensively, Dread is shooting it well, and Lundy is doing what Lundy does, which is knocking down catch and shoot shots.
The downside for what is going to be a limited spurt of workouts here for Penn State is that Brockington is sidelined with a little hamstring pull. No word on the severity, but there was some encouragement about his confidence and aggressive offensive mindset in his initial work back with the team post-hiatus. Surely, this team would do well for Brockington to find his Iowa at the Palestra gear as quickly and as frequently as possible this season.
4) Let’s talk about Lundy a little more.
I think it’s fair to say that Penn State is really counting on Seth to take the next steps in his game this season now that Stevens has exhausted his eligibility and is pursuing his NBA opportunity. They’re not the same player, by any means, but Penn State needs Lundy to try to be more of a three-level player, and Lundy wants it too. He’s got a big body, he looks the part right now, and that’s the major developmental area for him personally and for the program this season as it tries to be more versatile and dynamic than just a 3-point shooting team.
5) Speaking of threes, Myreon has put on some weight and is now in the mid-180s, which is obviously well above what he was playing with pre and post-illness during his breakout last season.
The deal here is that for as much relevant returning experience as Penn State now has in Harrar, Wheeler, Dread, Brockington, Lundy, and even to a lesser extent Buttrick and Kyle McCloskey, this is now Myreon’s team in a lot of ways. The leadership aspect is setting up to be more of a by-committee approach thanks to all that returning experience. But on the floor, given his performance last season, Jones is kind of “the guy” on this team ahead of this season.
He knows this, the staff knows this, and most importantly, every opponent on Penn State’s schedule this season knows it.
Without the attention Stevens was drawing last season, Jones is going to find himself with more intense defensive focus coming his way. A lot of this offseason for MJ is going to be about stepping up into that role both on and off the court. He’s a quiet kid as it is, but he’s going to need to be ready for the physical pounding of the league as well as the weight of stepping up and leading for others on the team.
The adage James Franklin preaches constantly about your best player setting the tone at practice by giving more than anyone else applies here.
6) Last but not least, some good early signs out of the new guys.
Dorsey might be the most physically ready to contribute, but he can come along gradually. Tsimbila is probably going to play out of necessity at the position. DJ Gordon is just tough and long and athletic and has shown some positive signs early, as has Dallion Johnson, who is a scorer. Just to set the right expectations here, though, Gordon needs to bulk up from his listed 6-foot-5, 175 pounds, and Johnson is feeling it out at this level, which is obviously to be expected.
One guy worth keeping in mind is Sam Sessoms, the junior transfer guard from Binghamton. Our understanding is that he’s been really good in these limited practice periods and just has a natural feel for the game as a scoring point guard. The NCAA’s decision to hold off on the one-time transfer rule means Sessoms is going to have to sit out this year, but there’s some early buzz about the potential he can bring to the program when his eligibility opens up in the 2021-22 season.
Happy to take questions from you guys if you've got any.
Part of the athletic department’s phased return to campus this summer, the Nittany Lion men’s basketball program filtered its way back to the area on June 22 for a mandatory quarantine, then moved into a voluntary ramping up period of strength and conditioning through the first half of July.
Following the guidance of the NCAA Division I Council, then, the Nittany Lions finally returned to organized, on-court skill instruction, with the coaching staff present, beginning on July 20.
So what’s the latest word from the program as it prepares ahead of its possible 2020-21 campaign?
Let’s get into some news and notes we’re hearing from the hardwood, here:
1) I’m going to start with the schedule because this is always interesting now that situations seem to change daily due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Bottom line, with the *Ivy League announcing that it has axed sports until at least January 1 (and Patriot canceling through the fall, winter sports still TBD), it’s already understood that Penn State has a series of nonconference schedule challenges if the Big Ten were to commit to playing that 11-game out of conference slate.
Well, it’s sounding more and more like the league is prepared to concede that ship has already sailed.
Instead, what I’m hearing is that there is a proposal on the table (of which I’m sure there are also others) that completely cuts out nonconference opponents, but bulks up the traditional Big Ten campaign. With flexibility a key component to the proposal, each conference team would play a 26-game slate, beginning sometime in December, that would see a full, conference-wide, play-everyone format.
This is all working under the premise that programs - coaches and players - are going to become infected with the virus. If the premise is to pull the plug as soon as someone gets infected, in a non-bubble format, then obviously all of this is pretty much dead on arrival.
But, if universities can stomach some level of infection in which one on any team leads to a mandatory quarantine, and postponements in the schedule as a result, there seems to be some level of appetite to at least try to give it a go. Just as an example, if Penn State has a COVID case and is set to play Minnesota, and Michigan has a COVID case and is set to play Illinois, the conference would quickly work to amend the schedule to have Minnesota and Illinois play in that spot, with make-up games scheduled during open dates down the line.
This might not be what Big Ten basketball looks like in 20-21, and in fact, it could be far from it, but the takeaway here is that motivation remains high to try to find a way to make this work.
At least for now.
2) In the midst of all of Penn State’s return to action this month, the July 13 announcement that junior college transfer Abdou Tsimbila had finally been allowed to enroll at the university was a monster.
It’s well-understood at this point that given the departures of Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens from last year’s NCAA Tournament-bound team, this is a program with an immediate size concern for the 2020-21 season. Senior forward John Harrar returns as the biggest body on the roster at 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, with rising senior and deep bench player Trent Buttrick next up at 6-8, 240.
Without Tsimbila, the Nittany Lions’ size quickly peters off to incoming freshman guard Caleb Dorsey (6-7, 230), redshirt freshman Pat Kelly (6-7, 215), and sophomore shooter Seth Lundy (6-6, 219).
But, with him, coming off a year at Harcum College in which he practiced but didn’t play, maintaining his eligibility to play four seasons the next four years, Penn State gets an instant boost in the frontcourt. He’s 6-foot-8, 235 pounds, and he’s got lots of athleticism.
Certainly, Harrar is set up to see max minutes as Penn State’s big this season, but Tsimbila represents the type of shot-blocking and dunker that doesn’t really exist elsewhere on the roster. Early word out of Penn State’s skills practices is that Tsimbila is bouncy and, while still young and obviously has a long way to go, he’s coachable and has the benefit of age and experience to help along the learning process at these early stages.
Still, even with Harrar, Buttrick, and Tsimbila available, with Dorsey poised to follow a similar trajectory of limited, but gradually increasing minutes as the season goes along, Penn State still has to find at least a few post-up buckets to keep opponents honest on the defensive end. Because, as it stands, they're not going to be.
3) This leads to what might be the most obvious point to make about what Penn State has currently on the roster with its shooters.
They’re (almost) all back.
Myreon Jones hit 56 of 139 last season as a sophomore. Myles Dread knocked down 65 of 204 (31.9 percent) and had the most volume from deep of anyone on the team. Lundy hit a solid 34 of 87 (39.1) in his debut season. And between Jamari Wheeler (a respectable 14 of 36) and Izaiah Brockington (12 of 45), the Nittany Lions have a couple more pieces expected to continue their offensive development this offseason.
I’m not going to blow smoke about Wheeler - through three years, it’s plain to see what his strengths and weaknesses are - but he’s said to be continuing to progress a little bit offensively, Dread is shooting it well, and Lundy is doing what Lundy does, which is knocking down catch and shoot shots.
The downside for what is going to be a limited spurt of workouts here for Penn State is that Brockington is sidelined with a little hamstring pull. No word on the severity, but there was some encouragement about his confidence and aggressive offensive mindset in his initial work back with the team post-hiatus. Surely, this team would do well for Brockington to find his Iowa at the Palestra gear as quickly and as frequently as possible this season.
4) Let’s talk about Lundy a little more.
I think it’s fair to say that Penn State is really counting on Seth to take the next steps in his game this season now that Stevens has exhausted his eligibility and is pursuing his NBA opportunity. They’re not the same player, by any means, but Penn State needs Lundy to try to be more of a three-level player, and Lundy wants it too. He’s got a big body, he looks the part right now, and that’s the major developmental area for him personally and for the program this season as it tries to be more versatile and dynamic than just a 3-point shooting team.
5) Speaking of threes, Myreon has put on some weight and is now in the mid-180s, which is obviously well above what he was playing with pre and post-illness during his breakout last season.
The deal here is that for as much relevant returning experience as Penn State now has in Harrar, Wheeler, Dread, Brockington, Lundy, and even to a lesser extent Buttrick and Kyle McCloskey, this is now Myreon’s team in a lot of ways. The leadership aspect is setting up to be more of a by-committee approach thanks to all that returning experience. But on the floor, given his performance last season, Jones is kind of “the guy” on this team ahead of this season.
He knows this, the staff knows this, and most importantly, every opponent on Penn State’s schedule this season knows it.
Without the attention Stevens was drawing last season, Jones is going to find himself with more intense defensive focus coming his way. A lot of this offseason for MJ is going to be about stepping up into that role both on and off the court. He’s a quiet kid as it is, but he’s going to need to be ready for the physical pounding of the league as well as the weight of stepping up and leading for others on the team.
The adage James Franklin preaches constantly about your best player setting the tone at practice by giving more than anyone else applies here.
6) Last but not least, some good early signs out of the new guys.
Dorsey might be the most physically ready to contribute, but he can come along gradually. Tsimbila is probably going to play out of necessity at the position. DJ Gordon is just tough and long and athletic and has shown some positive signs early, as has Dallion Johnson, who is a scorer. Just to set the right expectations here, though, Gordon needs to bulk up from his listed 6-foot-5, 175 pounds, and Johnson is feeling it out at this level, which is obviously to be expected.
One guy worth keeping in mind is Sam Sessoms, the junior transfer guard from Binghamton. Our understanding is that he’s been really good in these limited practice periods and just has a natural feel for the game as a scoring point guard. The NCAA’s decision to hold off on the one-time transfer rule means Sessoms is going to have to sit out this year, but there’s some early buzz about the potential he can bring to the program when his eligibility opens up in the 2021-22 season.
Happy to take questions from you guys if you've got any.
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