Baylor Basketball

Penn State's Kayden Mingo Commits to Baylor, Giving Scott Drew Another Key Transfer Guard

Penn State transfer point guard Kayden Mingo has committed to Baylor.
By Ashley Hodge
April 16, 2026
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Photo by Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State transfer point guard Kayden Mingo has committed to head coach Scott Drew and Baylor, according to Draft Express. Mingo becomes the second addition in this year’s transfer portal cycle, joining Liberty sharp-shooter Brett Decker.

Standing at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Mingo averaged 13.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds across 28 starts for the Nittany Lions this season as a true freshman. Mingo shot 48% from the field and 71% from the charity stripe, while shooting 24% from beyond the arc on limited attempts.

This season, Mingo also boasted a 3.9% steal percentage and is in the 97th percentile among guards in rim field goals attempted per game. He shot 50.7% from deep paint twos, showing his really good touch. Per Evan Miya’s CBB Analytics, Mingo was Penn State’s second-best defender and best overall offensive player.

The Farmingdale, New York, native graduated from Long Island Lutheran, the same high school as former Bear and current Philadelphia 76er, VJ Edgecombe. Mingo was a consensus top-40-ranked prospect and the highest-ranked recruit in Penn State’s program history.

Mingo’s younger brother, Dylan, is a five-star point guard in the 2026 recruiting class who chose North Carolina over Baylor and Kentucky earlier in the spring, but he recently decommitted from the Tar Heels, following the firing of head coach Hubert Davis.

Kayden Mingo will have three years of eligibility remaining and is listed as the No. 29 overall transfer in this year’s portal cycle, according to On3.

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Scott Drew Green & Gold Reports Transfer Portal Dylan Mingo Kayden Mingo Basketball Baylor Penn State 2026
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Discussion from...

Penn State's Kayden Mingo Commits to Baylor, Giving Scott Drew Another Key Transfer Guard

18,248 Views | 25 Replies | Last: 23 days ago by william
Bearsalwayswin
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11:01a, 4/16/26
WELL WELL WELL
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Mitch Henessey
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11:09a, 4/16/26
Let's go!!! Great pickup!
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IowaBear
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11:16a, 4/16/26
I like that Drew is getting back to what worked for him. 2 guys with multiple years left. Obviously they could transfer. But st least there's the possibility of keeping them here multiple years
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BUBradley
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11:27a, 4/16/26
Let's go! We are so back!
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to IowaBear • 11:45a, 4/16/26
IowaBear said:
I like that Drew is getting back to what worked for him. 2 guys with multiple years left. Obviously they could transfer. But st least there's the possibility of keeping them here multiple years


Couldn't agree more Iowa. I am done with the senior / grad transfer treadmill.
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Big12Fan2024
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11:56a, 4/16/26
Just noticed a post from EvanMiya.Com (one of the top Metrics systems for those who don't know who Evan is....and by the way, also a Baylor grad), Kayden Mingo's transfer metrics are higher than anyone we brought in last year.

Welcome to Waco, Kayden! Extremely happy you are a Bear now!
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ImABearToo
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12:16p, 4/16/26
How many guards do we have now? Never enough it always seems. Go get us a few seven footers next.
“Life is short, eat desert first!”
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Mitch Henessey
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12:18p, 4/16/26
I view him as a more productive Isaac Williams. Good athlete, solid defender, elite at getting to the rim, but a subpar outside shooter.

Hopefully whatever shooting coach we hooked Williams up with can do his magic on Mingo next!
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BearlyBeloved
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In reply to ImABearToo • 12:22p, 4/16/26
ImABearToo said:
How many guards do we have now? Never enough it always seems. Go get us a few HEALTHY seven footers next.

Fixed it for you.
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Ewalker80
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12:43p, 4/16/26
Let me just ask the obvious question --- surely this means Dylan is coming, too, right?
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Bear51
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In reply to BearlyBeloved • 12:55p, 4/16/26
BearlyBeloved said:
ImABearToo said:
How many guards do we have now? Never enough it always seems. Go get us a few HEALTHY seven footers next.

Fixed it for you.


I see what you did there BB
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Mitch Blood Green
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1:01p, 4/16/26
When does his brother commit to us?

Internet says he's (brother) hurt and will likely redshirt. Ankle injury.
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Hurricaneweatherfan
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In reply to Ewalker80 • 1:09p, 4/16/26
Not exactly
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Quinton
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In reply to Mitch Henessey • 2:51p, 4/16/26
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boognish_bear
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 5:17p, 4/16/26
Big12Fan2024 said:
Just noticed a post from EvanMiya.Com (one of the top Metrics systems for those who don't know who Evan is....and by the way, also a Baylor grad), Kayden Mingo's transfer metrics are higher than anyone we brought in last year.

Welcome to Waco, Kayden! Extremely happy you are a Bear now!


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BluesBear
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6:29p, 4/16/26
Hopefully we are signing them to 2-3 year deals. Go snag his younger brother now that UNC flipped HCs.

We might have some nastiness in the backcourt again.
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EatMoreSalmon
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6:48p, 4/16/26
Are we sure we spelled his name right?
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bear2be2
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In reply to Mitch Henessey • 10:43a, 4/17/26
Mitch Henessey said:
I view him as a more productive Isaac Williams. Good athlete, solid defender, elite at getting to the rim, but a subpar outside shooter.

Hopefully whatever shooting coach we hooked Williams up with can do his magic on Mingo next!
After watching the shooting improvement made by Mitchell and Williams once they transferred into our program, I'm not worried about poor shooting percentages. Our track record is pretty good when it comes to addressing that particular weakness.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to bear2be2 • 11:52a, 4/17/26
And watching game footage Mingo shot doesn't look broken. He will be fine. Very excited about the Mingo / Williams backcourt!
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Big12Fan2024
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4:32p, 4/17/26
Speaking for myself only, I don't need Mingo to be a great outside shooter to be successful. I need him to be exactly what I see on tape -- a guy who could consistently dribble and penetrate into the paint against P4 defenses. If he can do that, he is either open or within reason of hitting a close shot (which he had respectable shooting percentages) or, he draws enough attention that suddenly he can kick out to a wide open Decker, who can hit the outside shot for 3, assuming Decker's shooting percentages are just as good against higher level comp.

One of the biggest issues we had this year was only having 1 or 2 guys who could actually dribble drive into the paint and draw some attention. That was one of the things that most impressed me about Williams. He was consistently able to do that and it created either better ball movement or shots for others. When he wasn't in the game, we often played like we were stuck in ankle deep sand at the beach throwing the ball around the perimeter and no one moving until the shot clock was about to expire. As a result, we threw up a wild shot from the outside.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 4:47p, 4/17/26
Big12Fan2024 said:
Speaking for myself only, I don't need Mingo to be a great outside shooter to be successful. I need him to be exactly what I see on tape -- a guy who could consistently dribble and penetrate into the paint against P4 defenses. If he can do that, he is either open or within reason of hitting a close shot (which he had respectable shooting percentages) or, he draws enough attention that suddenly he can kick out to a wide open Decker, who can hit the outside shot for 3, assuming Decker's shooting percentages are just as good against higher level comp.

One of the biggest issues we had this year was only having 1 or 2 guys who could actually dribble drive into the paint and draw some attention. That was one of the things that most impressed me about Williams. He was consistently able to do that and it created either better ball movement or shots for others. When he wasn't in the game, we often played like we were stuck in ankle deep sand at the beach throwing the ball around the perimeter and no one moving until the shot clock was about to expire. As a result, we threw up a wild shot from the outside.


Yes, we definitely don't need or want Mingo shooting a high volume of threes. But as the level of competition increases, a guard must make defenses pay when left open. If not then defenses can simply sag way back and cut off driving lanes. I think Mingo and Williams will play off each other so well and create open looks for one another with their ability to penetrate and find the open man.
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Big12Fan2024
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5:05p, 4/17/26
He doesn't need to be good from three. He's a dribble drive guard who shot 57.4% from inside the 3 point line, which would have been the 2nd best shooting percentage on our team of anyone who took more than 25 shots all year. The only player we had who shot higher was Caden, and that's only because most of his shots were 6 feet and less.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 5:44p, 4/17/26
Big12Fan2024 said:
He doesn't need to be good from three. He's a dribble drive guard who shot 57.4% from inside the 3 point line, which would have been the 2nd best shooting percentage on our team of anyone who took more than 25 shots all year. The only player we had who shot higher was Caden, and that's only because most of his shots were 6 feet and less.


Agree to disagree. To be a top guard in our conference and for our offense to run at an optimal level he must be at least proficient from 3. He won't be able to penetrate against good defensive teams if he's not at least serviceable from the perimeter. He's got a full offseason to work on it.
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bear2be2
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 6:01p, 4/17/26
Crawfoso1973 said:
Big12Fan2024 said:
Speaking for myself only, I don't need Mingo to be a great outside shooter to be successful. I need him to be exactly what I see on tape -- a guy who could consistently dribble and penetrate into the paint against P4 defenses. If he can do that, he is either open or within reason of hitting a close shot (which he had respectable shooting percentages) or, he draws enough attention that suddenly he can kick out to a wide open Decker, who can hit the outside shot for 3, assuming Decker's shooting percentages are just as good against higher level comp.

One of the biggest issues we had this year was only having 1 or 2 guys who could actually dribble drive into the paint and draw some attention. That was one of the things that most impressed me about Williams. He was consistently able to do that and it created either better ball movement or shots for others. When he wasn't in the game, we often played like we were stuck in ankle deep sand at the beach throwing the ball around the perimeter and no one moving until the shot clock was about to expire. As a result, we threw up a wild shot from the outside.


Yes, we definitely don't need or want Mingo shooting a high volume of threes. But as the level of competition increases, a guard must make defenses pay when left open. If not then defenses can simply sag way back and cut off driving lanes. I think Mingo and Williams will play off each other so well and create open looks for one another with their ability to penetrate and find the open man.
I agree with you on this one. We complained all year about our lack of a true point guard, and we just added one whether he hits 3s or not. If Mingo plays the way he did last year at Penn State, he'll add tremendous value to our offense.

And I would be willing to bet right now that his 3-point percentage improves in our program.

We just added someone who had a 19.1 player efficiency rating as a freshman in arguably the best conference in the country. I see no downside.
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william
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8:52a, 4/18/26
Mingo!

- el UF

D!!

{ sipping coffee }

Is he an Arby's man???

PA.

TIA.

BID.
pro ecclesia, pro javelina
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