UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State coach Mike Rhoades announced the signing of guard Thomas Allard on Monday ahead of the 2026-27 Penn State men’s basketball season.

Allard, an experienced backcourt player with a winning pedigree, comes to Penn State as a graduate transfer for his final season of eligibility.

A 6-foot-7 guard out of Alabama, Allard played the 2025-26 season at Alabama-Huntsville, serving as a key player in the Chargers’ run to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. He averaged 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while starting 32 games for Alabama-Huntsville. He tallied 24 double-digit scoring games.

“Thomas has the ability to impact the game in multiple ways with his positional size, shooting ability and a high basketball IQ,” Rhoades said. “His maturity, production and winning experience will benefit us immediately.

On the Lady Lions side of the court, coach Tanisha Wright announced the signing of junior transfer Petra Bozan.

Bozan becomes Wright’s third transfer portal pickup in the offseason. The forward/center travels to Penn State after two seasons spent playing at Nebraska.

“Players like Petra don’t come around often. Her skill set as a post is exceptional and we’re confident she’ll showcase her versatility while having a significant impact as an integral part of our Lady Lion Program,” Wright said.

Bozan found herself in and out of the starting lineup for Nebraska throughout her sophomore campaign, playing in all 32 games and averaging 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds. The Split, Croatia native logged two starts in the NCAA Tournament run, during which time she averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds. Božan put up career numbers in a week with a pair of wins over Bradley and Penn State. The junior transfer averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. She capped the week with a career best 17 points against the Lady Lions.

PIAA scholarship winners

MECHANICSBURG — The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association awarded 24 scholarships on Monday to student-athletes across the state and three are from the Mirror coverage area.

The winners are Cooper Lovrich of Bellwood-Antis, Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore of Altoona Area and Alyssa Yeatts of Northern Bedford County.

Each recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship to support their post-secondary education.