Tag: Caleb Dorsey

Penn State basketball transfer portal tracker

Keeping tabs on the transfer portal activity for Penn State this offseason.

Penn State’s basketball season capped one of the most successful runs by the program in years only to see its head coach leave to take another job. And with an offseason of changes in the air in Happy Valley, the management of the roster is a massive task to address moving forward.

In addition to graduating players and NBA draft entrants, Penn State is also seeing some potential changes in the transfer port. The transfer portal served Penn State quite well the past couple of seasons with the additions of players like Jalen Pickett, Camren Wynter, and Andrew Funk. Can they thrive with transfers once again?

Here is an updated look at who is coming and going by way of the transfer portal for Penn State this offseason.

Penn State has officially lost a player through the transfer portal

Penn State basketball officially losing first player out of the transfer portal.

After seeing a number of players enter the transfer portal after a head coaching change following its run to the second round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, Penn State was hoping to keep a roster in some decent shape after making its coaching hire official. But new head coach [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] will continue to piece together his first roster in Happy Valley without at least one player from last season’s roster. Guard [autotag]Caleb Dorsey[/autotag] announced he has found a new place to call home out of the transfer portal, thus fully moving on from his time at Penn State.

Dorsey announced, via Instagram, he has committed to William & Mary. With the Tribe, Dorsey has played three seasons at Penn State, leaving him with one more year of eligibility unless he uses a redshirt season.

Dorsey appeared in just 16 games for the Nittany Lions last season. Dorsey was battling an undisclosed injury situation for the majority of the season. He last played in a game for Penn State on February 5 in a road game at Nebraska. Dorsey started nine games for Penn State last season.

Dorsey is the first Penn State player to formally leave the program by way of the transfer portal this offseason. While the Nittany Lions did just add Ace Baldwin from VCU, Penn State still has a handful of players sitting in the transfer portal weighing their options. Penn State players still in the transfer portal include [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag], [autotag]Jameel Brown[/autotag], and [autotag]Evan Mahaffey[/autotag].

Penn State also had a couple of players ask to be released from their national letters of intent following the coaching change.

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Ace in the portal? Crystal ball picks favor Penn State for top VCU transfer

Penn State could get an Ace in the transfer portal for new head coach Mike Rhoades

After Penn State hired away [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] from VCU, the VCU program was hit hard by players entering the transfer portal. The likelihood that at least one VCU player makes his way to Penn State to continue playing for Rhoades seemed pretty obvious as Penn State’s roster was also decimated by departures and the transfer portal in the fallout of its own coaching search’s early stages. According to a handful of predictions from recruiting experts, Penn State is the early favorite to land not only VCU’s top player in the transfer portal, but the Atlantic-10 player of the year.

Adrian “Ace” Baldwin is the hot name in the transfer portal out of VCU at the moment. And while the A-10 player of the year figures to have plenty of worthwhile offers to consider, Penn State is the crystal ball prediction from three recruiting analysts on 247Sports. Tyler Calvaruso of Lions247, Colby Giacubeno of InsideMDSports and Justin Thind of SpartanTailgate all have cast a crystal ball prediction in favor of Penn State since [autotag]Ace Baldwin[/autotag] entered the transfer portal just two days ago when Rhoades was formally introduced as Penn State’s new head coach.

The Baltimore native point guard averaged 12.7 points per game and 5.8 assists last season for VCU. In addition to being named the A-10 player of the year, Baldwin was also praised for his defense as the conference’s defensive player of the year. As Penn State is in need of veterans on the roster with the roster turning over the way it is, Baldwin would be a tremendous asset to the team in 2023-24 if he decides to continue playing for Rhoades at Penn State.

Penn State experienced tremendous success with the transfer portal under Micah Shrewsberry. Penn State’s first NCAA tournament team since 2011 was fueled by transfers Jalen Pickett, Andrew Funk, and Camren Wynter. Baldwin could be the next in line to give Penn State hope through the transfer portal, although he would definitely be more known for his defense than his offensive skillset. And that could be the biggest difference between Shrewsberry’s teams and Rhoades’ as Shrewsberry was more about the offense and Rhoades specializes more with his defensive approach as a head coach.

But that doesn’t mean Penn State won’t have offense to worry about. The hiring of former Nittany Lion on Crispin figures to help design an offense that will keep the scoring output going after directing one of the better offenses in Division 3.

Penn State currently has four players in the transfer portal; [autotag]Jameel Brown[/autotag], [autotag]Evan Mahaffey[/autotag], [autotag]Dallion Johnson[/autotag], and [autotag]Caleb Dorsey[/autotag]. It would not be shocking to see any of these players decide to withdraw from the transfer portal as the decisions to enter the portal were largely made as Penn State searched for a replacement for Shrewsberry. But expect plenty of transfer portal activity for Penn State as Rhoades looks to fill his first roster in State College.

Baldwin would be a great addition to get the momentum going in the portal.

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Penn State sees another basketball player enter transfer portal

A third Penn State basketball player has entered the transfer portal.

With a search continuing to find a new head coach to take charge of the men’s basketball program, the transfer portal saw another Nittany Lion player enter his name into the database on Monday. Freshman [autotag]Evan Mahaffey[/autotag] is the latest Penn State player to enter the transfer portal since the end of the season and the departure of former head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

Mahaffey was a three-star recruit in Penn State’s Class of 2022 out of Ohio. He appeared in 34 games for the Nittany Lions off the bench. Mahaffey averaged just 2.8 points per game in his bench role but figured to be a player that could see a significantly increased role next season with the changes coming naturally to the roster.

Instead, it appears Mahaffey could very well be on the move to another school with plenty of eligibility at his disposal. While the majority of players who enter the transfer portal likely end up at a new school, Mahaffey is always free to withdraw his name from the portal if he decides to stay at Penn State. Such a sequence is not unprecedented.

A year ago saw Seth Lundy enter his name in the transfer portal, following Shrewsberry’s first season in State College. Lundy ultimately;y opted to stay at Penn State and was a key player in the first NCAA Tournament team for the program since 2011.

Mahaffey is the third player from Penn State to enter the transfer portal. He joins [autotag]Caleb Dorsey[/autotag] and [autotag]Dallion Johnson[/autotag] at the moment, with all three still undecided on their next school of choice, be it elsewhere or to stick with the Nittany Lions.

As a result of expected departures and current transfer activity, Penn State’s scholarship picture is nearly as shallow as it can get right now. Hiring a new head coach soon is a pressing need to allow whoever the next coach time to get building the roster as quickly as possible to salvage much hope for the first year on the job. As it stands at the moment, Penn State has six players currently on the scholarship chart, and that includes Shrewsberry’s son, Braeden Shrewsberry.

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Two Penn State basketball players enter transfer portal

A pair of Penn State basketball players have entered the transfer portal.

With the [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] decision about staying or going to Notre Dame still unknown, two Penn State players have decided to enter the transfer portal.

[autotag]Dallion Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Caleb Dorsey[/autotag] were members of the 2020 recruiting class. They’ve decided they would like to test the waters elsewhere after not seeing much playing time this past season.

Both players are former three-star recruits who were brough in by former coach [autotag]Pat Chambers[/autotag]. They had to play their freshman year under interim coach [autotag]Jim Ferry[/autotag] and then spent the next two seasons coached by Shrewsberry.

These decisions likely come on the heels of not seeing much playing time this past season. Johnson had seen a prominent role during his sophomore year, starting 14 games and averaging 14.6 minutes per game. That was reduced to 8.7 minutes this season with zero starts.

Dorsey saw more playing time this past season than he ever had before at Penn State. He started nine games and averaged 12.0 minutes of floor time. However, he didn’t see action during any of the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournment.

It’s not surprising that these players would enter the transfer portal. If Shrewsberry stays, neither were recruited by him and fits what he’s looking to build. Both have two years of eligibility remaining stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that has granted players an extra year.

The transfer portal is still in the early stages for this offseason. Programs need to see how many available scholarships they’ll have and which players are departing.

By all measures, this shouldn’t be something alarming that signals Shrewsberry is definitely leaving Penn State. We’ll know that decision soon, but right now there are no indicators one way or another.

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Penn State was on fire from 3-point land in opening win vs. Winthrop

Penn State was on fire from beyond the three-point line in its season-opening win vs. Winthrop

Penn State had a big night from beyond the three-point line as the Nittany Lions opened the men’s basketball season with a 93-68 win against Winthrop on Monday night in the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State set a program record for three-point shots made with 18 three-pointers in the game.

[autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] was the leading man for the Nittany Lions with 23 points and five rebounds with five assists. Transfer Andrew Funk hit six of the record-18 three-pointers in his Penn State debut

Head coach Micah Shrewsberry was pleased with how the game played out.

“We’re not overdoing it,” Shrewsberry said in his postgame comments following the win. “We just want to be solid and disciplined in our spots. And that’s when good things happen for you.”

Penn State started the game with [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Dorsey[/autotag], Camren Wynter, Funk, and Pickett. Lundy had a double-digit with 10 points and Dorsey led the team with six rebounds. [autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag] picked up 12 points off the bench by hitting four of the team’s three-pointers.

Shrewsberry opened his postgame comments by admitting he was feeling a little bit nervous about the outcome when the game started.

“Coming into this game and walking out onto the court, I was nervous. I was nervous because I recognized, and you guys may not realize this because of how the game went, but it’s a good team. It’s a good program,” Shrewsberry said of Winthrop. “We’re going to look up in March and that team’s got 23-24 wins to its belt. And that’s not by accident.”

But it was hard for Shressberry not to walk away from Monday night’s game feeling good about what his team accomplished.

“I think the anxiety part was I wanted us to play well,” Shrewsberry said. “I wanted to show up tonight and I’m happy for the most part. I’m happy with our play.”

Next up for Penn State is a home game on Thursday night against Loyola (Md.). Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on B1G+.

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Penn State Basketball Snapshot Profile: Caleb Dorsey

Penn State men’s basketaball profile: Caleb Dorsey

Penn State men’s basketball is heading into its second season under head coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag], and the bar is looking to be raised as the Nittany Lions look to return to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2011. With a roster of key returning veterans and fresh new talent from the recruiting efforts of the new staff, there is a sense of optimism to rely on in the 2022-23 season.

Over the course of the preseason, will are profiling each player on the roster to help fans get acquainted with this year’s roster of Nittany Lions men’s basketball players and what kind of role each player will be taking on for Shrewsberry.

Here is a quick look at one player who filled a role off the bench for the Nittany Lions last season.

Preseason Profile: Caleb Dorsey

Position Forward
Year Junior
Hometown (High School) Westminster, MD
(The Hill School, PA)
Height 6’7″
Weight 235 lb

2021-22 Stats

Games Played FG% REB AST STL PTS
12 .273 9 2 3 11

Caleb Dorsey spent his second season with the program in a deep reserve role off the Penn State bench. In his few playing opportunities, Dorsey did hit some three-point shots against Wagner, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Role in 2022-23

Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Caleb Dorsey will continue to be a player coming off the bench for Penn State in the 2022-23 season. He won’t be asked to do much in that role other than eat some minutes when needed. There are other bench players that will have more of a role in the success of the team, but Dorsey likely will be seeing most of his playing time in any late minutes in games that have all but been officially decided.

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2021-2022 Penn State Nittany Lions Profile Card: Caleb Dorsey

Penn State basketball profile: Caleb Dorsey continues to be a bench option for the Nittany Lions

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Name: Caleb Dorsey

Number: 4

Position: Forward

Class: Sophomore

Weight: 235

Hometown: Westminster, MD

High School: The Hill School

Twitter: @_cd23

Caleb Dorsey was used sparingly as a reserve off the bench last season, but could he develop into more of a bench option for the Nittany Lions in 2021-22?

2020 statistics

GP FG% REB AST STL PTS
5 .500 2 0 0 6

Caleb Dorsey came to Penn State following a successful high school career for The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania as Penn State looked to find some good recruits from within the state. Dorsey checked off that box, and his family has basketball in the veins. Dorsey’s father, Stephen Dorsey, played college basketball for VMI and Towson.

As a true freshman in 2020-21, Dorsey appeared in just five games for the Nittany Lions, in which he recorded six points and two rebounds off the bench. But Dorsey brings potential to become more of an option off the bench under new head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

Dorsey appeared in two games in the first couple weeks of the college basketball season in 2021, and he has contributed 10 points and a rebound in his time off the bench.

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Penn State Nittany Lions 2021-22 Men’s Basketball Roster

Full rundown of the Penn State men’s basketball roster for the 2021-22 season

Penn State’s men’s basketball team offers a blend of veteran Nittany Lions who have gone through three different head coaches in the past two years and a blend of incoming transfer players to help fill the roster after an eventful offseason in Happy Valley. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry wasted little time forming his first coaching staff and roster for his debut season as a head coach, and his Nittany Lions face a challenging big Ten slate and some interesting non-conference matchups.

Below is the full roster and some quick info about each player appearing on it for the Nittany Lions for the 2021-22 season. This roster page will be updated moving forward through the season with links to highlights, features, photo galleries, and more.

For Penn State’s men’s basketball schedule for the 2021-22 season, click HERE.