There’s no easy way to put it: Penn State basketball struggled in tight games throughout the 2018-19 season. The team went 4-11 in its first 15 games that were decided by single digits, before upsetting No. 6 Michigan at home to jumpstart a 5-2 finish to the regular season.

One additional player might have made the difference in some of those close losses, especially if that one player was an extremely athletic guard who plays great defense and has NCAA Tournament experience.

Penn State had that player on its bench in former St. Bonaventure guard Izaiah Brockington.

The 6-4, 180 pound rookie tallied five double-digit scoring performances while playing an average of 11.6 minutes per game for the 26-win Bonnies in the 2017-18 season. He chipped in five points and two assists when Florida knocked them out of the Big Dance in the Round of 64.

The third-year sophomore had to sit out the season last year due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules, but Brockington’s name was mentioned by almost all of his teammates and coaches as breakout player to watch.

“I think he can be the next guy that is a defensive stopper for us,” Pat Chambers said last week. “He’s probably more offensive-minded than Josh Reaves, and he has an incredible body and probably jumps a little bit higher, but you know what Reaves meant to this program.

“I think Izaiah could be that type of player for us, defensive stopper, but who can also get you 12 or 14 points on any given night.”

Brockington, a Philadelphia native who took Archbishop Ryan to the PIAA 6A semifinals in 2017, played 34 games as a freshman at St. Bonaventure in his first collegiate season. Now, he joins an electric young back court that features sophomore scoring threats Myles Dread and Myreon Jones, a stingy, a defensive point guard with two years of Big Ten play under his belt in Jamari Wheeler, and a graduate transfer guard who has already played in two different major conferences Curtis Jones Jr.

“He’s a springy athlete,” Myles Dread said. “He’s amazing. He makes plays, he’s a great defender, and he’s just going to play hard.”

The most popular comparison so far for the uber-athletic sophomore? Josh Reaves. The two names were nearly synonymous among Chambers and Brockington’s teammates, as they raved about Brockington’s high energy and commitment to making “winning plays.”

“We’re definitely similar, especially with our athleticism and attention to defense and everything, but I just want to be the best player that I can be,” Brockington said. “I want to have my own nuances that I bring, but being able to sit back and watch him and how he made such an impact in games without just scoring, I definitely took some notes.”

Reaves finished his illustrious Penn State career with several major accomplishments: 2018-19 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, two All-Big Ten Defensive Team awards, 1,079 career points, and the No. 2 spot on Penn State’s all-time steals list with 250 swipes in 121 career games. Not to mention, he became the first player in Big Ten history to lead the conference in steals in three straight seasons.

None of this fazes Nittany Lions’ players that have played with both Reaves and Brockington, as they believe the sophomore can pick up the slack his predecessor left behind.

“Izaiah is a smaller version of Josh (Reaves),” Mike Watkins said. “When he gets going, there’s no stopping him.”

“I feel that I’m the best defensive guard in the Big Ten, and bringing in Izaiah, he’s just like Josh,” Jamari Wheeler said. “He never gets tired and he’s a freak athlete.”

Lamar Stevens believes that while Brockington’s defense is as good as advertised, his athleticism and offensive ability will allow him to play a big part from the beginning of the season.

“Izaiah, it’s going to hurt me to say this, is probably the best athlete on the team,” Stevens said. “He has a 44- or 45-inch vertical, something crazy, and he’s super fast. He’s a good three-point shooter and I think he’s one of the most exciting players we have on the team. I think fans are really going to fall in love with his game,” said Stevens.

Brockington has an immediate chance to factor into what might be Chambers’s deepest rotation since he arrived at Penn State in the summer of 2011. Dread will likely start, but he and Brockington both have the length to factor into the rotation at the “3” position all season long. The improvement that Brockington has made in his time off the court might enable him to factor into the point guard rotation with Jones, Wheeler, and Jones Jr. as well.

“My shooting was the first thing that I came here and started working on because I just figured ‘I have a year,’ so I just need to get my shooting form and everything right and it definitely made big strides,” Brockington said.

Curtis Jones Jr. joining the roster will help Brockington and this young backcourt significantly, as he brings knowledge from his time as a guard for Indiana and Oklahoma State prior to his arrival in Happy Valley.

“He’s played for multiple teams against any team that you can think of, so it’s really good to pick his mental about how he sees plays developing and how he always keeps his cool,” Brockington said.

Considering that Penn State returns eight players who received at least seven minutes of playing time per game last season, has added Brockington and Jones Jr. in the transfer portal, and brings in another talented, young Roman Catholic product in forward Seth Lundy, there’s a lot of room for optimism with this season’s team.

Everyone in the building knows just how close this team has come in a lot of games over the last 11 months. Now, they think that they have the depth to turn the tables on the rest of the conference.

“I want to make a positive impact and be one of the key guys that helps produce and gets us to where we want to go which is the NCAA Tournament,” said Brockington.

It seems like all of the Nittany Lions believe that they have something special with this group, and an under-the-radar addition like Brockington might just be the key in turning those undesired results into some momentum-creating victories.

“I don’t want to give away too much,” said Dread. “But just know that he’s going to be a guy that will help us a lot.”