Last year, Mike Rhoades landed the highest-rated recruit in Penn State basketball history, four-star guard Kayden Mingo. The Long Island Lutheran product was the 37th-ranked player in the country by 247Sports Composite and is the Nittany Lions' second-leading scorer in his freshman season. But his younger brother Dylan loomed as an even bigger potential prize.
Dylan is the fifth-ranked player in the 2027 class by 247Sports Composite and a consensus five-star. The 6-foot-5 point guard was one of the most highly-coveted players in the country, and for Penn State, he represented the opportunity become an instant contender next season. However, that opportunity will not come for Rhoades and his staff.
Tuesday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Dylan Mingo announced that he’s committing to North Carolina, choosing the Tar Heels over Baylor, Washington, and Penn State. After opting to spend what will almost certainly be one year in college at the Blue Blood program in Chapel Hill, he let Penn State down easy.
“I would say Penn State was second,” Mingo responded to a question about passing up on the opportunity to play with Kayden. “It’s super hard to not play with your brother, to decline that option, but I just felt like North Carolina was best for me right now.”
Dylan Mingo admits Penn State finished No. 2 to UNC in his recruitment
In some ways, finishing second stings more. Penn State needs a talent like Dylan Mingo to revitalize a program that has long been dormant. And his concession is almost like a consolation prize after UNC won out in a race that Baylor once appeared to be leading.
In other ways, it’s a positive sign in a year that’s been largely devoid of positivity. Rhoades’s team is likely going to miss the Big Ten Tournament for the second-straight season, and currently sits 17th in the 18-team conference. The fact that Penn State even remained a finalist for Mingo can be seen as progress.
Kayden could just follow Dylan to Chapel Hill this offseason
There is an even worse-case scenario that may arise from this commitment, however. Maybe Dylan Mingo isn’t passing up on an opportunity to play with his brother. It may just mean that his brother has to join him in Chapel Hill instead of the duo teaming up in Happy Valley.
Kayden Mingo has not had a one-and-done caliber freshman year, but there’s little reason to expect he’d return to Penn State for his sophomore season after wasting away in the basement of the Big Ten. If he does come back, Penn State could build around his skillset in the Transfer Portal and hope to improve, but if he wants to play for a real contender, there’s no reason not to try on some Carolina Blue.