A former Michigan State player and longtime assistant is back in the Big Ten, but with somebody else now.

On Tuesday, Penn State announced that it had hired Dwayne Stephens to be one of the Nittany Lions' new assistants. Stephens played at MSU from 1989-93 while Jud Heathcote was the Spartans' head coach and Tom Izzo was an assistant. Later, Stephens was an assistant himself under Izzo at Michigan State from 2003 to 2022.

Dec 5, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Western Michigan Broncos head coach Dwayne Stephens talks to his players in the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Stephens left MSU following the 2021-22 season to get his shot as a head coach at Western Michigan. The Broncos went just 42-84 (.333) during Stephens' four seasons in Kalamazoo, though.…