Playing time is at a premium for Penn State men’s basketball. While it’s a problem every coach faces in some capacity, Mike Rhoades has a roster full of talent he can only give a finite amount of playing time.

During the Nittany Lions’ dominant 108-66 victory over Binghamton on Monday, nine different players had over 10 minutes of playing time. Nine players also scored points in the season debut as four freshmen checked in for the first time.

While it might have been a product of the blowout victory, Rhoades said he feels like his 2024 squad is deep.

Nick Kern Jr., D’Marco Dunn, and Jahvin Carter had the most minutes off the bench against the Bearcats and accounted for 24 of the team’s 40 bench points. While Dunn said on Wednesday that he’d come off the bench before and didn’t have to adapt, Kern started in 23 games last year.

“[Kern]’s one guy that I don’t worry about when it comes to competition and competing,” Rhoades said. “When we go to our bench with him and [Dunn], I feel like we have seven starters.”

While Kern came off the bench in the season opener, Rhoades said playing time and roles will be fluid as the year rolls on. Kern took to the proposed role well and Rhoades was never concerned because of the team’s mindset of looking toward the bigger picture.

Another part of that bigger picture is the freshman class, which Rhoades had high praise for through his first three press conferences of the new season.

Carter led the freshmen with 16 minutes during Monday’s win, finishing 2-for-9 for four points with three assists. Dominick Stewart led the class in points with 10 while going 4-for-5 from the field with two three-pointers late in the game.

“I want to play a lot of guys, and I want to throw those guys into the fire, so we’re going to do that up until Big Ten play,” Rhoades said. “But some people shorten their bench as they get there, and I’ve never been that way. Those guys got good minutes the other day so after the game I told them, ‘Go get more.’”

But there are only 200 minutes to give out per game. Most years, Rhoades conducts a “200-minute exercise,” where he asks each player how many minutes they want. While everybody has a different number in mind, Rhoades tallies up the total and says it’s always over 200. 

The exercise demonstrates that not everyone can get the playing time they want or expect and reinforces the personal sacrifice that comes with a winning program. Along with the realization that minutes are hard to come by, it drives competition both in games and at practice.

With veterans like Kern able to accept new roles with poise and confidence, that mindset should spread throughout the locker room.

“Everything in practice and competition, it’s all meaningful. Playing time’s just not set in stone” Rhoades said. “When you build a family that also has great competition, that’s how you do some really cool things.”