New-look Penn State eyes win in opener against Canisius

Penn State is resetting with a new roster as coach Mike Rhoades enters his fourth season on the job. The Nittany Lions open the season next Monday against Canisius in State College, Pa.

The Nittany Lions finished last season 12-20 (3-17 Big Ten), which included an eight-game losing skid. The unceremonious ending came with an opening-round Big Ten tournament loss to Northwestern, 76-66, after they missed the 2025 conference tournament under the old 15-team format.

Rhoades said he is adamant that this year's team, led by Brant Byers and Ivan Juric, is going to play faster and with purpose.

"It is what it is in the Big Ten for us," Rhoades told reporters at Big Ten preseason media days. "I'm cool with that. I'm excited about that, but we have to have a level of toughness and grit and fight to find a way to overachieve on a Saturday night on the road in the Big Ten because that's pretty darn hard to do."

Rhoades said he was intrigued by Juric's offseason improvement. He averaged 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season, his first year under Rhoades' guidance.

"He's maturing as a basketball player, and I think he surprised all of us last year," Rhoades said of the 7-foot Croatian. "Now can we have higher standards, higher expectations, and can you lead the way? Very coachable young man. Tough. He's got some grit to him."

Meanwhile, Golden Griffins coach Jim Christian is also retooling his program. Over the summer, Scott Galst earned a promotion from director of operations and will now serve as an assistant coach under Christian.

"Scott has a passion for the game of basketball, and he is extremely dedicated to working with our players and putting our guys in the right position for success both on and off the court," Christian said in a release July 31. "His background in advanced scouting and analytics is an extremely valuable resource to our program."

The Golden Griffins finished 10-21 (5-15 MAAC) last season and have five upperclassmen on this year's roster.

Canisius is highlighted by Michael Wilson Jr., who spent last season at Bellarmine and had three breakout performances against Power Four teams in Kansas State, Notre Dame and Kentucky, against whom he averaged 17.3 points.

--Field Level Media