The start of a new college basketball season is here, and with it is the dawn of a new era for Penn State. The [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] era of Nittany Lions basketball will get underway Friday night, unofficially, with a charity exhibition game at Robert Morris in Moon Township. Despite this being a charity exhibition game, with the official start of the regular season on tap for Monday evening, Penn State fans will be able to watch the game live through a paid subscription service.
Penn State will visit Robert Morris in a Coaches vs. Cancer exhibition. Proceeds from the exhibition will help support the American Cancer Society. Both schools will play in support of a close member of their respective programs. Penn State will be playing to support mindfulness coach Alex Peavey and the Peavey Project, a friend and ally of Rhoades. Peavey has continued battles with two stage-four cancers.
Robert Morris will play in support of Director of Basketball Operations Matthew Sweet, who was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in March 2023.
Robert Morris will be in its 14th season under head coach Andrew Toole, who is 216-210 in his career. The Colonials went 16-17 last season. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2009, and this is Penn State’s first time playing at Robert Morris.
This game will not count in either team’s official records this season, but it will serve as a good opportunity to get a first look at the Nittany Lions under Rhoades, who took over the Penn State job after a six-year run as the head coach at VCU.
This will not be the first exhibition game for Penn State basketball under Rhoades, of course. This summer saw Penn State travel to the Bahamas for a pair of exhibition games with a 113-65 victory over the Bahamas Pirates and a 103-77 victory over the University of Victoria (from Canada) a couple of days later.
Here’s when you should tune in to see the exhibition game against Robert Morris on Friday evening:
- Date: Friday, Oct. 27
- Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: ESPN+
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
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