Davidson transfer leads group of Penn State basketball players impressing Mike Rhoades in summer workouts - RAW CHILI

The Penn State basketball team is three-quarters of the way through its offseason workouts, and fourth-year coach Mike Rhoades has used the opportunity to learn about a team that is once again filled with fresh faces. And a couple of those new Nittany Lions are standing out to Rhoades.

During a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday, Rhoades was asked about players who might have surprised him this summer with what they’ve been able to do on the court. And Rhoades started with a potential high-level scorer who was added from the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Roberts Blums transferred to Penn State from Davidson this offseason. During two seasons with the Wildcats, Blums averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 18.9 minutes per game over 63 appearances off the bench while shooting 42% from the field and 37.1% from three-point range.

Blums, though, took a significant leap as a sophomore. Last season, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 22.3 minutes per game in 32 appearances off the bench. He shot 40.7% from three-point range while attempting 5.9 3-pointers per game. He was among the Atlantic 10’s top three-point shooters last season.

“He’s just, he’s my type of guy,” Rhoades said. “He’s my type of guard. He’s just super competitive. Works so hard, so into it. I knew he was a good player. Coming from a good program like Davidson, he was gonna have a lot of things that we were gonna like. But he’s taking it to a whole nother level. He can make plays. … He plays super hard. He’s about the right stuff. He’s a great voice in practice. I’ve been really pleased with him.”

Blums, a 20-year-old from Riga, Latvia, is listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, and he appears to fit how Rhoades wants to play offense this season by spreading the floor with shooters. Last season, Penn State ranked 274th nationally in three-point percentage (32.4%). Guard Eli Rice led the team at 39% on 3.6 attempts per game from deep.

Blums was rated as a three-star prospect in the portal by 247Sports. He was ranked as the No. 56 shooting guard and No. 296 player available in the cycle.

Rhoades turned to a player leveling up in his competition next.

Guard Thomas Allard is a graduate student who spent the past four seasons playing in the Division II ranks at Alabama-Huntsville and Lincoln Memorial. His teams have made the D-II national tournament in all four years of his college career.

Last season — his lone year at Alabama-Huntsville — Allard averaged 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in 32 starts. Allard shot 40.9% from the field and shot 32% from three-point range while attempting 5.5 3-pointers per game.

“He’s a guy that’s probably played 120 college games under his belt,” Rhoades said. “He can dribble, shoot and pass at a high level. He gets it. He knows how to play the right way. I’ve been really, really fired up with him.”

Penn State lists Allard at 6-foot-7 and 210 points. He played his high school basketball at Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett in the Atlanta suburbs. 247Sports rated Allard as a three-star prospect in the transfer portal and ranked him as the No. 91 shooting guard and No. 446 overall player.

Of all the additions this offseason, Allard might face the toughest learning curve in the leap from the Gulf South Conference to the Big Ten. But the early feedback from Rhoades is worth noting.

The third name that Rhoades mentioned was guard Dasonte Bowen, another graduate student who spent the past two seasons at St. Bonaventure after playing at Iowa for two years. As the Bonnies’ starting point guard last season, Bowen posted 10.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 34.3 minutes per game across 33 starts.

“Dasonte showed up, had to wait till all his medical testing, and then by the second day he was here, making an impact, making an impact on the team,” Rhoades said.

Bowen suffered a season-ending injury 10 games into the 2024-25 season at St. Bonaventure. That came after a two-stint at Iowa where he averaged 3.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 11.3 minutes per game in 51 appearances (nine starts).

Penn State lists Bowen at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds. He prepped at Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy, though he is from Boston. He was originally rated by 247Sports as a three-star prospect in the Class of 2022.

Penn State is coming off a dismal 2025-26 season when it went 12-20 overall and 3-17 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions return just one rotational player from last season in sophomore forward Ivan Jurić.

Rhoades, though, projected excitement about this year’s team during his meeting with the media Tuesday, and the optimism centered on the abilities of some of the newcomers.

“A couple different guys, without a doubt,” Rhoades said, “but I’d say Roberts would be at the top of that list.”

Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He can be reached at bydanieljtgallen@gmail.com. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallen, Instagram at @bydanieljtgallen and Bluesky at @danieljtgallen.bsky.social.