Penn State’s search for a new head basketball coach officially came to an end Monday afternoon. Following a vote to approve the proposed contract, [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] has been named the head basketball coach of the Nittany Lions. Penn State officially announced the hiring shortly after the terms of the contract were approved by the board of trustees, thus bringing the Pennsylvania native back to the state with hopes of building a program that can become a consistent winner.
Rhoades comes to Penn State following a six-year run as the head coach at VCU, where he took the Rams to three NCAA tournament appearances. This past season, Rhoades coached VCU to the regular season and conference tournament championship in the A-10, en route to his latest trip to the NCAA tournament. Rhoades has a career coaching record of 373-189 and 19 years of college basketball coaching experience.
“We are excited to welcome Mike Rhoades as our head men’s basketball coach,” Penn State athletics director [autotag]Pat Kraft[/autotag] said in a released statement. “He is a veteran head coach who is a proven winner at multiple levels. Mike has been a tremendous recruiter and talent developer throughout his career. As a Pennsylvania native with a strong family history with our University, Mike understands what it means to be a Penn Stater and how impactful it is to be part of Nittany Nation. Mike has a vision of how to build Penn State Basketball into a championship program. We are thrilled to welcome Mike, Jodie, Logan, Chase and Porter to Happy Valley!”
Rhoades is originally from Pennsylvania, with his hometown being Mahoney City, PA. He went on to graduate from Lebanon Valley College in 1995 before heading to VCU for postgraduate studies. Rhoades has helped develop NBA players with seven players from VCU going on to be draft picks while Rhoades was either an assistant coach or head coach from 2018 through 2022.
Much like how James Franklin returned to Pennsylvania to take over a program in need of stability, Rhoades will look to do the same for a program lacking in sustained basketball success. Penn State is coming off just its fourth NCAA tournament appearance since joining the Big Ten in 1993, but Rhoades is also the first head coach to be hired by Penn State with as an established track record as he has.
“We will be bold, different and aggressive moving our program forward,” Rhoades said in a brief statement shared by Penn State’s athletics department. “We will play with great energy and excitement while always being relentless in our pursuit of making this basketball family into something special. I can’t wait to get to work.”
Now it’s time to let Rhoades get to work securing a roster. With a roster depleted by graduation and the transfer portal, there is a lot of room to fill on the basketball roster for Rhoades and his soon-to-be-assembled coaching staff.
Welcome to Happy Valley, @CoachRhoades🦁
A proven winner and a Pennsylvania native, we are thrilled to officially announce Mike Rhoades as the next Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Men's Basketball Head Coach → https://t.co/3RCbWQfzvD#WeAre pic.twitter.com/EyxBCCskYR
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) March 29, 2023
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