March Madness may be going on, but that doesn’t mean Penn State fans have to sit out the basketball hype. [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] held his end-of-season press conference on Thursday and it should have fired up every Penn State fan for the future.
Clearly, he is the man for the job and wants to be at Penn State.
Rhoades’ first season in State College was a success. A 16-17 overall record doesn’t tell the whole story, as most of Rhoades’s roster was made up of transfers, and he had to meld it all together. He did that magnificently, finishing with nine Big Ten wins, the second-highest by a first-year head coach in program history.
It was just the eighth time in Penn State’s 32-year history in the Big Ten that the program collected nine or more conference wins.
One of Rhoades’s main calling cards was his defensive understanding, but the Penn State offense finished the season averaging 75.1 points per game, ranking as the highest-scoring offense since the 2019-20 squad.
Rhoades’ first season in Happy Valley included two top-15 wins over No. 12 Illinois and No. 11 Wisconsin.
Without a doubt, Penn State basketball is going in the right direction and the right hands with Rhoades at the helm.
Powerful quote from Mike Rhoades on the state of Penn State basketball: pic.twitter.com/dsn0w5hQOw
— Seth Engle (@bigsengtweets) March 21, 2024
Penn State fans should be fired up after reading this quote from their head coach. He understands the mountain he has to climb but also knows Penn State can make that climb. Keep an eye on Penn State basketball’s offseason because Mike Rhoades is not messing around. Maybe March basketball is in the cards next season for the Nittany Lions.