On Wednesday night, for the first time ever, a Penn State basketball player was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Yanic Konan Niederhauser, after transferring from Northern Illinois and spending one year in Happy Valley, was the final pick of the first round, No. 30 overall, to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Though Penn State struggled in Year 2 under head coach Mike Rhoades and Konan Niederhauser battled injuries at times throughout the year, he was still an incredibly impactful player for the Nittany Lions, especially on the defensive end of the floor. The 7-footer from Switzerland averaged 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and blocked 2.3 shots per game. His 3.7 blocks per 40 minutes were 98th percentile in college basketball, as was his 10.3 percent block rate, and Penn State’s defensive rating was 4.3 points better with their primary rim protector on the floor.
Penn State has only had three players selected in the NBA Draft at all this century and nine since 1970. Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy, after leading the Nittany Lions to a first-round NCAA Tournament win in 2023, were drafted 32nd and 46th overall, respectively, in the 2023 NBA Draft, and Tony Carr went off the board 51st overall to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018.
Konan Niederhauser will join Pickett, Lundy, and Lamar Stevens, who went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft and last season played 17 games for the Memphis Grizzlies, as the only four former Penn State players in the NBA.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser will learn from an elite defensive anchor in LA
Despite being a first-round pick, Konan Niederhauser won’t be expected to contribute right away in LA. The Clippers are anchored defensively by 28-year-old 7-foot center Ivica Zubac, who in his eighth season in the league just averaged a career-high 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds. Zubac only blocked 1.1 shots a game, but has a much more refined offensive game than Konan Niederhauser, and could help former Nittany Lion’s development on that end of the floor.
A first-rounder could help Penn State basketball recruiting
Despite not earning a green room invite from the NBA as a likely first-round draft pick, Konan Niederhauser was in attendance at the NBA Draft in Brooklyn on Wednesday night, and had his opportunity to walk across the stage and shake commissioner Adam Silver’s hand, in a moment that he, and die-hard Penn State basketball fans won’t soon forget.
With the 30th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the LA Clippers select… Yanic Konan Niederhauser! pic.twitter.com/k9mBOT9v5o
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) June 26, 2025
Penn State will never become an NBA factory. However, Rhoades just landed the highest-ranked high school recruit in program history in four-star Kayden Mingo, and now with a first-round pick to sell, Rhoades could continue to find unprecedented success on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal.