Sizable VCU power forward enters transfer portal

Yesterday, Penn State University officially introduced former VCU head coach Mike Rhoades as the newest basketball coach. For the past six seasons, Mike Rhoades has served as the head coach of Virginia Commonwealth University, leading the Rams to a 129-61 overall record, two A-10 titles, and three NCAA tournament appearances during his time at the helm in Richmond. Just one day after the move was made official, a sizable VCU power forward, Jalen DeLoach, entered the transfer portal.

Sizable VCU power forward Jalen DeLoach enters transfer portal, could make sense for Mike Rhoades and Penn State basketball

When playing in the Big Ten, teams need two main components: size and defense. When it comes to Mike Rhoades’ coaching style, defense will be no issue, but bringing in some size needs to be a priority. Right now, the Penn State basketball program is looking a bit bare bones — the Nittany Lions are down to just a few scholarship players left (with around nine open at the moment) and have 12 players and many coaches on their way out the door.

For Rhoades and the Nittany Lions, bringing in a guy like Jalen DeLoach could make a lot of sense in year one of the Penn State basketball rebuild. DeLoach is currently a rising junior and started 25 games with VCU a season ago, averaging nearly 10 points per game and more.

VCU transfer portal prospect could be perfect for Penn State in the Big Ten

DeLoach stands at 6-foot-9 and weighs in around 215-pounds, making him a great size for Big Ten basketball. Additionally, DeLoach was rated as a three-star recruit out of high school by the 247 Sports composite rankings, and was ranked as the No. 51 power forward in the 2021 class and the No. 18 player in the state of Georgia.

As we saw with Micah Shrewsberry’s exit, the VCU program is likely going to lose a lot of players to the portal — if Mike Rhoades wants to take many of them with him to Penn State, DeLoach could be a great starting point to get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on implementing a solid transfer portal class to remain competitive in 2023-24.

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