BREAKING: VCU guard Ace Baldwin enters transfer portal

State College — Mike Rhoades certainly has his work cut out for him. The new Penn State basketball head coach inherits a skeleton crew of a program, with almost its entire roster leaving due to graduation or the transfer portal. But the good news is, Rhoades will have plenty of options to pick from as he builds out his roster, with hundreds of players currently in the transfer portal. This now includes one of Rhoades’s former star players, VCU guard Ace Baldwin.

Baldwin brought consistent production to VCU

Since news broke of Mike Rhoades’s hiring as the next Penn State basketball head coach, several high-profile VCU players have hit the portal. The latest to do so is Adrian “Ace” Baldwin, Jr., who announced the news on Thursday afternoon.

VCU's Ace Baldwin will enter the transfer portal, per his Twitter page. Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 30, 2023

Baldwin is a former three-star prospect out of Baltimore, MD in the class of 2020. He averaged nearly 13 points, six assists, and three rebounds a game last season for Rhoades’s VCU Rams. This was good enough to win Baldwin Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors for the 2022-23 season. But Baldwin has been a model of consistency in his time at VCU. Baldwin shot an average of 41% from the floor in his three years as a Ram, which is notable considering that he played an average of 33 minutes a game for his career.

Can Penn State basketball land VCU guard Ace Baldwin in the transfer portal

The move to the Big Ten would be a considerable step up for Baldwin, who stood out at the mid-major level. But overall, it seems logical to assume that Penn State basketball would be a notable player in Ace Baldwin’s recruitment. In addition, the news that Baldwin decided to hit the transfer portal even broke during Mike Rhoades’s introductory press conference as the next Penn State basketball head coach. During his press conference, Rhoades discussed the importance of time and trust in recruiting and developing players. Rhoades would conceivably have an inroad with Baldwin in this area already. If Rhoades can snag Baldwin for Penn State basketball, it would be a huge boost to the Nittany Lions’ backcourt, which will need to replace production from Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy, and Cam Wynter, among others.

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