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Penn State basketball lands Slovenian power forward Tibor Mirtic

nate-mug-10.12.14by: Nate Bauer06/24/25NateBauerBWI
penn-state-basketball-inks-slovenian-power-forward
Tibor Mirtic has signed to play for Penn State during the 2025-26 season. (Photo credit: Spartak Office Shoes/Aleksandar Secerov)

The Penn State basketball program has continued its progress reshaping its roster for the 2025-26 season with an addition to the frontcourt. Tibor Mirtic, a 6-foot-8, 22-year old power forward from Slovenia, has committed to play with the Nittany Lions next season.

The Daily Collegian’s Will Horstman reported the news first on Tuesday morning.

Mirtic spent the 2024-25 season with professional team KK Krka in Novo Mesto, Solvenia as part of the Adriatic Basketball Association or ABA Liga. There, he averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 rebounds while playing in 22:40 per game. His top performance in the 20-game season, appearing in 19 games, included 22 points and three rebounds over 30:39 in a January loss to Zagreb’s Cibona, 97-92.

Tibor Mirtic highlights

Nittany Lions push size, girth development on roster

Meeting with reporters to wrap up the 2024-25 season, Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades acknowledged a need to improve the program’s size going into the next campaign.

“You always want to get a level of talent. You got to get players that could help us win Big Ten games from the get-go. So that part. We all know talent,” he said. “We need size and girth. The one thing that I had to learn even more is the level of size, one through five. Returning players got to put on a body of armor that could win games in the Big Ten.

“But we also got to go out and recruit a body of armor. Guys with size and girth at all positions. I think that’s really important. We could still play the style that I want to play being bigger and stronger and taller and more girth.”

Next steps for Penn State basketball

The addition boosts the Nittany Lions’ roster count to 12 players ahead of the 2025-26 season. Penn State is likely to continue its search for another player as the team progresses through its second week of summer access practices.

Where things stand for Penn State

Guards Freddie Dilione, Dominick Stewart, Kayden Mingo, Reggie Grodin, Melih Tunca
Wings Eli Rice, Mason Blackwood, Josh Reed, Chris Lotito
Bigs Justin Hauser, Ivan Juric, Tibor Mirtic

Penn State scholarship breakdown by class

Fifth year (0): 
Fourth year (1): Josh Reed
Third year (2): Freddie Dilione, Eli Rice
Second year (1): Dominick Stewart
First year (8): Justin Hauser, Mason Blackwood, Kayden Mingo, Ivan Juric, Reggie Grodin, Melih Tunca, Chris Lotito, Tibor Mirtic

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