Men’s College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Penn State Nittany Lions

The Big 10 will be going through some changes in men’s college basketball up top this season, as household names like Ayo Dosunmu and Luka Garza are off to the NBA. There is still plenty of star power though, as Juwan Howard has brought in an elite recruiting class at Michigan, our guy Trevion Williams is back for his swan song season at Purdue. and even the bottom half of the conference has useful fantasy options sprinkled throughout.

Big 10 slates are a grind, so getting a head start on info about this conference will serve you well in putting you above the rest of the field. Join me on this journey as we preview the Big 10 teams from a DFS perspective.

In this one, Penn State.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Penn State Nittany Lions 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 11-14 (7-12 Big 10), 11th in Big 10
Postseason: None

Key Departures | Penn State Nittany Lions

• Myreon Jones (transferred to Florida)
• Izaiah Brockington (transferred to Iowa State)
• Jamari Wheeler (transferred to Ohio State)
• Trent Buttrick (transferred to UMass)

Key Additions | Penn State Nittany Lions

• Jalen Pickett (transferred from Siena)
• Jaheam Cornwall (transferred from Gardner-Webb)
• Greg Lee (transferred from Western Michigan)
• Jalanni White (transferred from Canisius)
• Jevonnie Scott (transferred from JUCO)

Returners | Penn State Nittany Lions

• John Harrar (8.8 PPG/8.8 RPG/1.3 APG)
• Seth Lundy (10.1 PPG/4.2 RPG)
• Myles Dread (7.3 PPG/2 RPG/1.1 APG)
• Sam Sessoms (8.2 PPG/2 RPG/1.3 SPG)

Penn State Nittany Lions Outlook for 2021-2022

Penn State has a new coach in Micah Shrewsberry, who will be tasked with turning the Nittany Lions into a tournament team again. Shrewsberry has pedigree working under former Butler and Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and under Matt Painter at Purdue. Things could be tough in his first year though, as the team brought in no freshman recruits, and the rotation may end up being 7-8 players. Bad for him, but great for us as DFS players.

John Harrar was one of the best rebounders in the country last year and had the ninth-best offensive rebounding rate at 16.1%. His combined rate of 41% was truly elite to go along with 5.3 fouls drawn rate and fourth-best free throw rate. Harrar came out of nowhere as a little-known role player to being one of the best frontcourt players in the conference.

Seth Lundy had some slate-melting games early on but then fell off the face of the earth, which got him bench for the last month of the season. He will be relied upon by the new coaching staff this year and should be in the mix for heavy minutes. Myles Dread is your typical 3-and-D guy that started the last few weeks of the season and is usually in consideration as a value play.

Sam Sessoms had the highest usage rate and shot rate off the bench at around 25% on each. He was a high-volume scorer at Binghamton and will need to become a better three-point shooter to truly reach playable status.

Jalen Pickett was the marquee addition from the transfer portal. At Siena he was a total stud who averaged 13-6-5 last season. One of the complaints about Pickett was that he simply wasn’t engaged during his time at Siena. When he is focused you won’t find many better, but a lack of motivation has really stunted his growth. A move up to a tougher conference could be just what the doctor ordered for him. Jaheam Cornwall is a career 43% shooter from long range and was a first-team all-Big South selection a year ago. I think his game will translate extremely well at the Power 6 level and could have a similar season to Nate Johnson at Xavier in 2020.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams, top 100 players and top 25 impact freshmen for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

There is intrigue here for fantasy and I think this is a team we will definitely be targeting often. Despite losing sniper Myreon Jones to Florida, I think the team will actually be better in the backcourt with Sessoms, Pickett and Cornwall. Harrar and Lundy will also have to make the next step in their career for this team to truly thrive. If Shrewsberry can keep these guys motivated, they could be in for a better season than most people think.