Tag: Favour Aire

Penn State forward Favour Aire enters NCAA transfer portal

Penn State forward Favour Aire is heading back to the transfer portal after one season with the Nittany Lions.

The NCAA transfer portal opened on Monday for college basketball players interested in evaluating their options for a new home, and a handful of Penn State players entered their names into the database. Among them was forward Favour Aire, who spent one season with Penn State.

Aire appeared in 12 games for the Nittany Lions this past season. The Maryland native is taking his second turn in the transfer portal after coming to Penn State from Miami a year ago, after spending one season with the Hurricanes.

Aire averaged 0.6 points per game and 1.0 rebounds per game in his limited playing opportunities with Penn State. He worked through an injury at the start of the season and didn’t get into sync with the team midway through the season as a result.

Penn State will now have a void to fill at the center position with Aire expected to move elsewhere and Qudus Wahab having his eligibility expire. Expect Mike Rhoades to focus on big men in the transfer portal to plug that hole as quickly as possible.

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Penn State men’s basketball 2023-24 roster

Here is a look at every player on Penn State men’s basketball roster for the first season under head coach Mike Rhoades.

Penn State will have a new look on the roster for the 2023-24 season. A new head coach and significant roster turnover, including losing two players to the NBA, have led to a roster with a number of transfer players plugging roster holes for the 2023-24 season.

Penn State’s roster includes a total of 10 players who have come from the transfer portal, with a number being added to the roster since the end of last season. That includes star guard Ace Baldwin Jr., one of the top players Rhoades had on his roster at VCU before moving to Penn State. Penn State also added transfers from North Carolina, Lafayette, Miami, and Temple this offseason.

Here is a look at Penn State’s men’s basketball roster for the 2023-24 season.

Penn State basketball lands former four-star Miami transfer

Penn State basketball lands transfer from Miami in Favour Aire

The hits just keep coming for Mike Rhoades and his coaching staff.

After taking over a situation that was dire with the lack of scholarship players on the roster, Rhoades has completely rebuilt the team in less than a two month window. Not only was he and his staff able to rebuild mainly through the transfer portal, they were able to land high quality players that can impact the program immediately.

The most recent addition is not exception. Penn State landed former Miami center Favour Aire out of the transfer portal on Monday.

Aire played his true freshman season for the Hurricanes last year but decided to look at other programs after seeing the floor in 14 games. Aire was a four-star prospect in the class of 2022 after leaving his country of Nigeria to play basketball at Bishop McNamara in Maryland.

Aire announced his commitment to Penn State on his Instagram account with a post saying “New beginnings.”

The four-star high school prospect is a 6’11” 215-pound center who uses his physicality to get position down low for rebounds. Aire is considered a raw prospect but possesses great athleticism for someone his size. He runs the floor at a high level and can defend on the perimeter while also being able to block shots.

In the 14 games he played last year, Aire saw the court for 2.7 minutes per appearance, recording averages of 0.6 points and 0.6 rebounds.

Those certainly aren’t eye-popping numbers, but his ceiling is extremely high and could provide Penn State with interior defense and rebounding which they haven’t had in recent years.

With the addition of Aire, the roster is almost filled out for the 2023-24 season. There is now one open scholarship spot remaining which can still be filled through the transfer portal.

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