Penn State men’s basketball is in the home stretch under first-year head coach Mike Rhoades.

Rhoades and the Nittany Lions have nine regular-season games remaining, boasting a .500 record through the first 22 games of the 2023-24 campaign. With the Big Ten Tournament just around the corner, we took a look at how each position group has fared midway through the conference schedule.

Point Guards: A-

Ace Baldwin Jr. and Kanye Clary have been the best players for the Nittany Lions all season. Coming into the year, many believed Baldwin would be the go-to guy to replace Jalen Pickett from last year’s team. The VCU transfer hasn’t always been the premier scoring threat fans hoped for, averaging a respectable 13.6 points per game and shooting 33% from behind the arc.

What has made Baldwin so instrumental is what he does in every other statistical category. The senior is putting up 5.22 assists, 2.82 steals, and 2.0 rebounds per game. He’s averaging the most assists on the team, and his steals per game are ranked sixth-best in the nation. His efforts on the defensive side of the ball placed him on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list.

Clary has exceeded all expectations in his second year in State College. He is averaging a team-high 18.4 points per contest. Despite the Nittany Lions picking up back-to-back road wins this past week without the injured Clary, Penn State needed his production for much of the season. Alongside Baldwin, the duo has been as scary of a backcourt as there is in the entire conference.

Shooting Guards: B+

D’Marco Dunn and Nick Kern Jr. have done their jobs in their first years wearing the blue and white. Both wing players have been in and out of the starting lineup for Rhoades. Dunn and Kern are two of the better athletes the team has to offer, which has proved useful for Rhoades’ high-intensity play style.

Dunn is averaging 7.1 points per game and 1.9 rebounds with Kern putting in 7.6 points and 4.0 rebounds each night on the floor. Kern, another VCU transfer, is known for giving his full effort every time he steps on the floor and has been important for translating Rhoades’ approach to Happy Valley. Dunn has acted as the team’s sixth man for the majority of the season and has played well in the starting lineup to replace the injured Clary.

Jameel Brown and RayQuawndis Mitchell slightly bring the rating down for the entire position. Brown has seen some extended action of late, hitting four threes and scoring 14 points in the win over Indiana. If he can become a more consistent shooter, increased minutes and victories will follow. Mitchell saw most of his playing time in the nonconference slate, averaging 2.2 points per game.

Small Forwards: C

This group has been the most underwhelming to date. Puff Johnson, Leo O’Boyle, and Zach Hicks were brought in to shoot the ball and shoot it well, and none have done that. Johnson is shooting 26% from deep, O’Boyle is even worse at 25%, and Hicks is the best of the trio at 31% from three. None of those marks are good enough for players who are meant to shoot and convert at high volumes.

Hicks had his best game, like Brown, in the win at Assembly Hall. The Temple transfer shot 50% from three and tallied 19 points in the upset. The problem for this group is it took 22 games for one of them to have a great performance. Johnson was seen as a possible cornerstone piece of this year’s team, coming from North Carolina and possessing NBA talent in his genes, but he is only averaging 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds a night.

Centers: B

Qudus Wahab has been the third-best player on this team through 22 games. The Georgetown transfer has been as solid as it gets controlling the paint this year. He averages an impressive 9.5 points and 8.0 rebounds a game on limited touches. He has also yet to foul out of a game and is shooting an impressive 74% from the free-throw line. If anything, Rhoades and his staff need to get the big fella more involved down the stretch.

Demetrius Lilley has done well as an undersized big man. Lilley has seen extended minutes due to injuries and inconsistency from Favour Aire. Lilley has been called a “junkyard dog” by Rhoades on numerous occasions for the little things he does on the court to give Wahab a breather. What limits this group and its rating is a true difference-maker, but all around, the three are reliable when called upon.