Happy Valley Insider - The Final Piece: UNC transfer guard D'Marco Dunn commits to Penn State
Penn State's 2023-2024 men's basketball roster is officially complete.
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BB Recruiting Penn State lands UNC transfer guard D'Marco Dunn
- Thread starter Dylan Callaghan-Croley
- Start date
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This is great news, and I'm surprised I'm the first to respond. Dunn is a top 100 recruit who spent two years working his way up the UNC depth chart. He'll have two years with PSU.
Happy Valley Insider - The Final Piece: UNC transfer guard D'Marco Dunn commits to Penn State
Penn State's 2023-2024 men's basketball roster is officially complete.
The scholarships are now all used up. My impression with the PSU hoops roster set is that is is an athletic group who will play aggressively and tough defensively. We'll have to see about scoring and how well they work together.
Not only has Rhoades filled the entire roster, he has done it with very capable basketball players. Other than Clary and Baldwin, every player that steps onto the floor will be 6'5" or taller, are athletic, and can play the game. The telling tale will be can Rhoades and company get them to gel into a solid group in one year??
Baldwin isn't the offensive threat that Pickett was, but he is a solid point guard and great defender. If you recall, he was listed as one of the top 10-15 players in the portal, so I think he did a solid job bringing him with him.
With the amount of long, rangey athletes on this team, I would think that they will play pressure, maybe even full court defense at times, and up-tempo offense to use their athleticism. Even if they don’t, they do have capable post players to slow it down and try to play the types of games that Shrewsberry played with lower possessions if they do that, they have the bodies that can really hit the offensive glass and get to the free throw line.
Now that the roster is complete, it's interesting that Torvik has us slotted as the 142nd best team in the country, and last in the Big Ten. I expect us to take a pretty big step back this season, but not quite that big of a step.
Too many new players to really make a good strong call. Press defense takes time and trust. Offense needs a star or gelling. How quick we attain either is huge.
we were only 10th in the conference last year, so that's not a huge stretch
i disagree with Torvik though, because i think this roster is better than last years
We ended up 6th in the Big Ten in both Torvik and Pomeroy and in the mid 30s in both…but the B1G was very tightly packed.
I don’t see anything to make me think our roster is better this season. We should be significantly worse, but hoping we can catch some breaks and be better than expected. Our offense will be worse (and likely by a lot), but hopefully we gain a bit at the defensive end to offset some of it.
I meant that we finished 10th place in the standings.
Obviously there is not a drop-in replacement for a unique player like Pickett, but most of the incoming players seem like upgrades
Nonsense…this team is tourney bound! 142nd? With Ace alone we would be higher than that!
just looking at the guards on the roster, this is not a last-place team. I would be shocked if they finish in last place, and kind of surprised if they don't have a higher conference finish than last year.
Keep in mind that we were tied for 9th, but two games out of second.
I think you’re overrating the incoming guys (at least out of the gate). We had the most experienced team in the history of college basketball last year. Guys like Lundy, Funk, Wynter, and Dread were thousand point scorers. Pickett had arguably the best season in school history. We’re replacing them with guys that have potential, but not nearly the same production at the college level.
I definitely don’t think this is a last place team, but the lack of shooters on this team definitely takes it down a couple slots from where their athleticism is.
Offensively, I think the team will take a huge jump in terms of offensive rebounding and free throws attempted, but a big decline in three-pointers made and field goal percentage.
Shrewsbury played low possession games with the squad last year, which made their defense look better than it was, but this year’s team, playing at a higher pace, will need to create offense from their defense, and have the free throw advantage most games to win.
Just to give a sense of where Bart is coming from, here is this year's squad, and how they fit in last season with their PRPG! rating, which is his offensive rating to give a sense of how much they contributed per game over a replacement level player at that end...
Baldwin (3.0) - best player on the 62nd ranked team (VCU)
Wahab (2.4) - 2nd best player on the 203rd ranked team (Georgetown)
O'Boyle (2.3) - best player on the 266th ranked team (Lafayette)
Mitchell (2.0) - 3rd best player on the 332nd ranked team (UMKC)
Hicks (1.1) - 6th best player on the 105st ranked team (Temple)
Kern - (1.1) - 7th best player on the 62nd ranked team (VCU)
Johnson (0.9) - 6th best player on the 40th ranked team (NC)
Dunn (0.5) - 9th best player on the 40th ranked team (NC)
Clary (0.4) - 9th best player on the 36th ranked team (PSU)
Aire (-0.1) - 12th best player on the 27th ranked team (Miami, Fl)
Brown (-0.3) - 12th best player on the 36th ranked team (PSU)
Lilley (n/a) - not in the top 12 on the 36th ranked team (PSU)
Gudmundsson - freshman
Baldwin (3.0) - best player on the 62nd ranked team (VCU)
Wahab (2.4) - 2nd best player on the 203rd ranked team (Georgetown)
O'Boyle (2.3) - best player on the 266th ranked team (Lafayette)
Mitchell (2.0) - 3rd best player on the 332nd ranked team (UMKC)
Hicks (1.1) - 6th best player on the 105st ranked team (Temple)
Kern - (1.1) - 7th best player on the 62nd ranked team (VCU)
Johnson (0.9) - 6th best player on the 40th ranked team (NC)
Dunn (0.5) - 9th best player on the 40th ranked team (NC)
Clary (0.4) - 9th best player on the 36th ranked team (PSU)
Aire (-0.1) - 12th best player on the 27th ranked team (Miami, Fl)
Brown (-0.3) - 12th best player on the 36th ranked team (PSU)
Lilley (n/a) - not in the top 12 on the 36th ranked team (PSU)
Gudmundsson - freshman
It's pretty much a lock that we'll have better offensive rebounding and FTs attempted (we were in the bottom 4 teams in the country in both) and won't shoot as many 3's, or shoot them as well. I could see our field goal percentage itself remaining flat or improving because we shot so many more 3's, but our eFG% will certainly drop.
My hope is that we replace some of those 3s with more second chance points and easy baskets in transition. But our 3 point shooting could be pretty bad. Last year, our guys went...
Baldwin - 38-111 (34.2%)
Hicks - 80-225 (35.6%)
Mitchell - 75-249 (30.1%)
O'Boyle - 74-182 (40.7%)
Johnson - 13-46 (28.3%)
Dunn - 12-37 (32.4%)
Clary - 5-17 (29.4%)
Kern - 2-8 (25%)
Brown - 2-14 (14.3%)
Wahab missed his one three, and Gudmundsson shot 28.7% in Iceland.
I feel like this team should have much better depth and ability to rotate compared to last year even if the skill of the starters is down. That could help encourage more aggressive defense as well as keep players more fresh within games and over the season.
We might be taking a step back this year, but that is not a definite. I agree we will not drop that much, and if Johnson, Hicks and Brown play up to their recruiting hype, we will surprise a lot of people.
Or at least by the end of the year- for a chance for a run lime last year!
New team will be longer, better defenders, better rebounders…
Worst case scenario is that they will do ok, which is better than most years!
Funk was 36% prior to last year. Lundy was 35%. Both improved 5pts to hit 40% (Lundy) and 41% (Funk) in '22-'23. You never know what a change in teams, coach, offensive strategy, an off season to work on the shot etc can do. Mitchell better improve or we don't want him jacking up almost 7 or 8 a game and hitting at a 30% clip.
My prediction is we will hover around a bubble team to slightly off of it through the year. Think Lunardi's next 4 out or maybe next, next 4 out then needing a good run in the B10 tourney to dance (2 or 3 wins). Probably finish 8-12 in conference. Hope we do better but losing Pickett was huge and that is the biggest difference for me.
Yeah, I can see anything from seven through 12th Pl. finish in conference for this team. Lots of grind it out games. Need to gel early and shoot ft well, as I would assume this will be more of an attacking the basket team than a jump shooting team.
Just like KState a year ago. PSU is a B1G dark horse for 2023/24. Mark my word. Team will bond in the Bahama’s. Might be the most athletic BB roster ever assembled in HV!
That is understandable, but look at it another way. Baldwin, in the top 10 of all portal transfers when he was signed. Johnson, Favour, Wahab, Dunn, Hicks, Brown were all highly recruited players out of high schools. Many times things don't work out at the school they get recruited by and a change of scenery does wonders. A lot has to do with systems they play, coaching they have or who they are playing behind. Aire being the 12 best player doesn't tell the story. He was on a team with a lot of talent. Brown being the 12th player on Penn State's team doesn't tell the story, as he just didn't get any playing time. When he did get in he showed a lot of potential.
This team will have a lot of length, a lot of athletic ability, and could end up being one of the best defensive teams in the conference and/or beyond. Lilley was not in the top 12 because he wasn't ready to play early in the season and I believe it was Screwsberry's decision to red-shirt him.
Anything over 35% in college is a good 3 point shooter, and we have 3 of those. Brown is a much better 3 point shooter than his record, and was recruited highly because of it. Johnson was a very good 3 point shooter in high school, but I have to agree with you that this team is set up to score in transition, off the offensive boards, and with a lot of pick and rolls going inside.
I also think that Clary's shot from the outside looked real smooth, and with more time this year, and Crispin's help he will improve in that area.
I'm impressed with the roster he put together in a short time. However, my expectations are NIT at best for this year. It just seems like a tall order to get the team to play well together especially early in the season. I think we'll be much better by the end of the season and that is a good springboard into year 2.
Shrewsberry went to an unusual style that other teams could not prepare for. This was the reason for the run in March. Pickett was an All American, rock solid dependable, but nobody else was very consistent. and offensive rebounding was really terrible. I could easily see this year's team doing better in the conference.
We could be on par with last year's team for just about the whole season. Remember prior to the NW road win no one was that thrilled with how the season had played out to that point. The difference is the magnificent run starting with the NW road win all the way into the 2nd round of the Dance. That probably ain't happening again. We will probably need to make a little run in the B10 tourney to dance as in winning at least two but probably three. Regardless, PSU hoops is looking good, no longer the dumpster fire we were at one point.
It is no longer the poor program that it was in the mid-2000s. It is in another place now. The recruiting and many other things have advanced by light years since those days, and it happened gradually over several different coaches.
Last season really was almost a disappointment, and then there was a great run in the BTT and one win in the NCAA. It was a little surprising that the coach was able to parlay that into the ND job, given that the team was not any more impressive than any other team who went one round into the tournament. A more pleasant surprise has been the way that the new coach has filled in the roster, which keeps giving me the impression that we got the better end of the deal.
Yeah, you wonder what we would all be thinking this summer if we missed the dance and did not have the big run. Still a lot of confidence in Shrews but if he missed the dance in '23-24 then we start to get antsy.
I'm with you about how he managed to parlay that finish to the ND job but I do think we landed very softly and nicely. It would have been great to have Booth but I am very happy with how Rhoades has built the roster and am optimistic about what he will be able to do. Looking forward to a hard nosed team built on defense and grit who can rebound and have guards who get to the rack.
I really think that Screwsberry had the ND job lock up before that last run. He interviewed for the job in early February, and I feel that they knew they wanted him even before that. We will have to wait to see how this team pans out before we can get an idea if we made out in Micah leaving or not, but for as good as that run was we were still lacking in many areas, and defense was where we got hurt the most. I think we fix that part of the equation this year, as with a tall, quick, athletic team, and a solid defensive minded coach we turn that around. We will also have two rim defenders to solidify the post defense. We had none last year.
I agree that he was likely gone...all of his vague interviews point to at the least playing both sides of the coin
..which in his position we all would do.
"All I know is that I'm just enjoying this time with these guys and I don't want it to end." Until it did. We will be much more athletic and may be able to win a lot of low scoring games.
Funk was hot when he was hot, but also a defensive liability. I wonder what his personal plus/minus was. Seth really matured over his 4 years. If he would've returned we'd have a true PSU veteran voice which we will be lacking.
Credit Rhodes with building an interesting roster. It should be an interesting and hopefully fun season! The rollercoaster of PSU hoops continues...
Defense will be ferocious…the great equalizer….if we can get consistent offense, this team will be a huge pain to play.
At least several of these transfers already have played for winning programs and presumably expect to win.
Really, except for a few programs every season, there's not much difference between the vast majority of college basketball teams that play in the major conferences; this sport mostly is made up of average teams, and one player can change an average team into a top 10 team; i.e., Purdue last season would've been a pretty ordinary team without their center. Also, last season, most of the Big 10 consisted of rather ordinary teams, and there was very little difference between the bottom and the top. Just look at how OSU and even PSU made runs in the Big 10 tournament, and they both finished in the bottom third of the conference. Moreover, Northwestern finished second in the conference after they were picked to finish last or close to last in the preseason, and that team never will be confused with the 1976 IU team.
My point regarding the above is, unless these other Big 10 schools all of a sudden are going to bring in Fab 5 recruiting classes, there's no reason why this collection of PSU players can't win about the same number of conference games as last season.
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