Former Penn State guard Kayden Mingo picks his transfer destination; where will he play next?

Penn State basketball lost point guard Kayden Mingo to the transfer portal following the 2025-2026 season. Now, he knows where he’ll play next season. Mingo is going to Baylor, On3’s Jamie Shaw reports. The Bears were not among his finalists before he picked the Nittany Lions as a high school recruit. But the Big 12 program was in the mix for his brother, Class of 2026 five-star Dylan, who decommitted from North Carolina earlier this week.

“First, I would say just a winning program,” Dylan Mingo told Rivals earlier in his recruiting process when asked what he was looking for in a school. “A coach that truly believes in me. A coach and a coaching staff that believes in me. A place where I can be off the court and I still feel comfortable at. A place where you want to go. Even if it’s not basketball, basketball’s not in the picture. And honestly, academics is a big part, too.”

There is no guarantee that Dylan Mingo will follow Kayden to Baylor. But, it seems likely.

Kayden Mingo left head coach Mike Rhoades’ program after starting in all 28 of the team’s games as a freshman. He put up 13.7 points per game, while leading the Nittany Lions in assists with 4.3 per game.

“I’m very grateful and very blessed for the whole season. I feel like God put me in a very good position with a lot of good people around me,” said Mingo following the Nittany Lions’ Big Ten Tournament loss to Northwestern on March 10. “Going into next season, I’m really looking forward to fixing things that I could do better to help the team win. Be back here and win more games. That’s the most important thing. Winning more games.”

He chose not to fix things at Penn State, of course, and instead moved on to Baylor.

Penn State basketball portal recap so far

To replace a number of losses from last year’s roster, Penn State recently added a number of portal pickups. The list as of 12:15 p.m. ET on April 16 includes:

Davidson guard Roberts Blums

Central Connecticut State guard Jay Rodgers

Miami (Ohio) forward Brant Byers

International small forwards Roko Prkačin and François Wibaut

Here’s where the Lions’ roster currently stands, per BWI’s Nate Bauer:

Guards Jay Rodgers, Reggie Grodin, Roberts Blums, Brant Byers
Wings Roko Prkačin, François Wibaut, Chris Lotito, Jamison White
Bigs Ivan Juric, Sasa Ciani, Tibor Mirtic