After three straight years of finishing with a losing record, Penn State men’s basketball is aiming to reshape its identity for the 2026-27 season.

The Nittany Lions had 10 players leave the program following last season, adding six players from the portal, two from overseas, and one high school commit to replace them.

With an almost entirely new roster, head coach Mike Rhoades is changing his coaching strategy.

“If you stay the same, you’re going backward in this landscape,” he said at media on Tuesday. “So sometimes it’s adjusting how you go about it, from evaluating to choosing kids, to what your pull is; it just is what it is. When the rich keep getting richer, you could just stand there and have to figure it out, and that’s how it is.

“So I’m going to continue to fight for our program the best we can, and in a respectful and classy way.”

Penn State hasn’t seen as much success as intended in the past three years, with no March Madness appearances, two overall losing records, and three losing records in the Big Ten under Rhoades.

Rhoades was put in a tough spot, though, moving to Happy Valley right as college sports changed with the additions of NIL and the transfer portal.

“Within three months of me getting a job, the whole college landscape changed, so you have to be in the fray, and you have to be in the fight with the people you’re trying to beat,” Rhoades said. “You have to do what they’re doing, so in that part of it, you want to be in the same fight as everyone else, and when you’re not, that’s really hard.

“I think we’ve had moments where there are some good things, but overall, it’s an uphill battle from day one in a lot of different areas. You just have to try and put the most important things that you can change or impact and go from there.

“I don’t know if it’s a Penn State thing as much as it is a college landscape, and college basketball in the Big Ten, but the number one thing is just having a chance every day of being in the fight and doing what everyone else is doing.”

When navigating the new college landscape, coaches expect players to come and go at any moment, but this season, Rhoades is excited about how the new group of players represents Penn State.

The Nittany Lions head coach said they come ready to work and get better every day. The whole team has been leaning into their new “EAT” motto, meaning enthusiasm, appreciation, and toughness.

Rhoades also said he plans to use the momentum of this season to try and educate those in power about what it takes to win in the Big Ten, “the richest conference in basketball.”

Rhoades was critical of the funding his team gets compared to Big Ten foes, but thinks the Nittany Lions’ tight bond could help combat that this season.

Penn State has come closer through bonding activities such as yoga, attending Arts Fest, and recently had a team dinner at Rhoades’s house.

Rhoades said the off-the-court chemistry has made the on-the-court process easier. He likes to “play a lot of basketball” and have guys work in the weight room. The work needed to be successful in the Big Ten comes a lot easier when guys are having fun and want to be there.

“Just spending a lot of time in the gym and explaining what’s really important to me and to our program, what we need to do moving forward, and getting guys to play the right way is the most important thing to me, and that’s been a huge emphasis,” Rhoades said.

He also emphasized how important trust in a player-coach relationship can be. He wants to let players rely on instincts instead of controlling their every move

“If you’re a high-level communicator with your team, and they’re a high-level communicator back to the coaches, that’s where you can build quicker, but to me, it’s always assume nothing, have building blocks, and then build on those building blocks,” he said.