UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State men’s basketball coach Mike Rhoades announced the hiring of Dwayne “DJ” Stephens as assistant coach ahead of the 2026-27 season on Tuesday.

Stephens spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Western Michigan and comes to Happy Valley with nearly 30 years of college coaching experience, including 19 years of Big Ten experience.

Known as one of the nation’s top recruiters and player development coaches, Stephens played a key role in the development of numerous NBA players, including Draymond Green, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Miles Bridges while coaching at Michigan State.

Big Ten opponents

The Big Ten Conference announced single-play and double-play opponents Tuesday for the 2026-27 Penn State men’s basketball season.

The Nittany Lions will face 14 single-play opponents and three double-play opponents in the 20-game Big Ten men’s basketball slate.

Penn State will play both home and away games against Nebraska, Ohio State and Rutgers. Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Oregon, Purdue and Washington will each visit Happy Valley as Penn State’s home-only opponents.

Away games for single-play opponents will send Penn State to Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin.