Miami U sharpshooter Brant Byers officially signs with Penn State

Penn State basketball announced its third signing from the transfer portal on Saturday morning, officially adding former Miami University wing Brant Byers to the fold. Byers committed to the Nittany Lions in April and joins transfer guards Jay Rodgers (Central Connecticut State) and Roberts Blums (Davidson) in head coach Mike Rhoades’ haul. 

The 6-foot-8, 200-pound Pennsylvania native is a redshirt junior with two years left to play in his college career. He was the 2025 MAC Freshman of the Year and finished second on the Redhawks in scoring in the 2025-2026 season at a 14.2 per game clip. 

“Brant is a proven winner and lights-out perimeter shooter who is an excellent fit at Penn State,” Rhoades said in an official release. “His versatility and well-rounded skillset will make an immediate impact in our program. We’re thrilled to get Brant back to PA and know he will represent Penn State well both on and off the court!”

Byers can help with Penn State’s shooting woes

With his addition, the Nittany Lions can expect improvement in a particularly damaging deficiency from this past season. Over 34 games with the RedHawks, Byers shot 39.2 percent from 3-point range, averaging 2.0 makes per game on 5.2 attempts to go along with 14.2 points per game.

Compared to a Penn State roster that struggled to knock down shots from beyond the arc with consistency, Byers represents an upgrade in both efficiency and volume by a sizable margin. The Nittany Lions finished No. 271 nationally, shooting 32.4 percent from deep with an average of 6.9 makes per game, also ranked 271st.

“Inside-outside threes, kick-out, or one-more threes, transition threes. When you’re open and you sort of tee it up, they’re the ones we’ve got to make. Sometimes when the shot clock winds down, you have to fire one up. Or maybe someone makes a great contest coming out of nowhere, and it becomes a little bit harder,” Rhoades said during the heart of the Big Ten schedule. “Not to put pressure on our guys, but that’s basketball. We’re kicking it to you, or a one-more to you, or you’re the guy off a ball screen — if you’re open, you’ve got to knock them down.

Link: Nittany Lions land veteran guard Thomas Allard via transfer

“That’s part of the game. That’s the responsibility to get in the gym, work on your game, and get extra shots before and after practice so you feel good. But yeah, we’ve got to make them. We’ve got to make more of them.”

Byers helped lead the RedHawks to an undefeated regular season and a spot in the NCAA Tournament this past season, starting all but one game and averaging 30.8 minutes per outing. He shot 47.8 percent from the field and added 4.1 rebounds per game.

Where things stand for Penn State

Guards Jay Rodgers, Reggie Grodin, Roberts Blums, Brant Byers, Thomas Allard
Wings Roko Prkačin, François Wibaut, Chris Lotito
Bigs Ivan Juric, Timothy Oboh