Ace Baldwin was recognized as one of the Big Ten’s top players entering the 2024-25 season, and the Penn State basketball guard is looking to build off a 2023-24 in which he was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and a third-team selection. Baldwin has also burnished his profile nationally.
The fifth-year senior was named the No. 42 player in the nation entering the season by a CBS Sports panel that ranked the top 101 players in the country. The list was released Thursday.
“The former VCU star is in his second season with the Nittany Lions. Baldwin averaged a career-high 14.2 points and 6.0 assists last season. Penn State has only been to the NCAA Tournament three times this century, and getting back to the Big Dance will be predicated on Baldwin taking another leap,” Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports wrote.
The panel that created the rankings featured Salerno, Gary Parrish, Matt Norlander, Kyle Boone, David Cobb, Adam Finkelstein and Isaac Trotter.
Baldwin was the only Nittany Lion on the list. Penn State opens its season against Binghamton on Nov. 4. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center, and the game will be streamed on B1G+.
The CBS Sports list is led by a top 5 of Alabama guard Mark Sears, North Carolina guard RJ Davis, Duke guard/forward Cooper Flagg, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner and Kansas center Hunter Dickinson.
Baldwin is the ninth-ranked Big Ten player on the list behind Purdue guard Braden Smith (No. 9), Washington forward Great Osobor (No. 15), Rutgers guard Dylan Harper (No. 17), Indiana center Oumar Ballo (No. 18), Rutgers guard/forward Ace Bailey (No. 24), Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton (No. 29), Iowa forward Payton Sandfort (No. 30) and Michigan center Vlad Goldin (No. 36).
As Salerno laid out, Baldwin had one of the most productive seasons of his career last year with the 14.2 points and 6.0 assists per game. He also set a career high 2.7 steals per game, which helped him earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Baldwin is a former Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year from his time at VCU.
Baldwin was named to the 10-man Preseason All-Big Ten Team in October. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in an unofficial preseason media poll.
Penn State coach Mike Rhoades, who coached Baldwin during the first three years of his career at VCU, has lauded Baldwin for his offseason work, but he still sees some areas where he wants the Baltimore native to take steps forward.
“Be a killer every game,” Rhoades said Wednesday. “In practice, show the guys by example how to compete, how to be coachable and how to how to take your game to the next level. I thought Ace, by far, had the best summer and preseason that he’s ever had. Sometimes, as you get older, you see things a little clearer and simple decisions. I never had to worry about Ace competing and wanting to win. But what I love about him, he’s taken like a professional approach to improving himself in his game. What happens is, when he’s in the gym all the time, guess what? A lot of other guys are in the gym all the time, too, and that’s a great example for our young guys. So just really proud of him.”
After last season, Baldwin elected to take advantage of his fifth and final season of collegiate eligibility to spend his second season with the Nittany Lions this winter. He approached the end of his career with a renewed focus during offseason workouts.
“It felt good,” Baldwin said Wednesday. “It was a great summer. I had a clear mind, and I
was focused on the next season.”
Penn State is coming off a season in which it went 16-17 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten. If the Nittany Lions want to take a significant step forward in Year 2 under Rhoades, then Baldwin will likely play a major role in that.
When the dust settles, it remains to be seen where Baldwin ranks among the nation’s best.
“Iron sharpens iron, and having to play against him just competing, it helps you as a player,” guard/forward Puff Johnson said Wednesday. “You get to push the next player also.”
Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He can be reached at daniel.gallen@paramount.com. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallen and Instagram at @bydanieljtgallen.