Earlier today, the Nittany Lions met with one of their priority coaching candidates to replace former coach Micah Shrewsberry. According to reports from some very credible inside sources, Penn State basketball appears to be locked onto VCU coach Mike Rhoades to fill the program’s head coaching vacancy.
Penn State basketball is interested in VCU coach Mike Rhoades to take over in State College
Earlier this weekend, rumors began to fly that Penn State basketball was interested in pursuing VCU head coach Mike Rhoades to take over as the program’s new top dog. That being said, while the interest has likely been there on Penn state’s end, no one is sure that Rhoades is interested in making the move to State College. What we do know is that Penn State University met with Rhoades earlier today, and it is much easier to make the tournament in Penn State’s position than it is for a team like VCU in a mid-major conference, who essentially needs to win their conference title to get in.
VCU coach Mike Rhoades has done a tremendous job with his current program, and could make a lot of sense for Penn State basketball seeing as he has some serious ties to the state of Pennsylvania. Since arriving at Virginia Commonwealth, VCU coach Mike Rhoades has led his program to an impressive 129-61 overall record, including three NCAA tournament appearances and two A-10 conference championships (most recently in 2022-23) throughout his six seasons at the helm.
Penn State basketball is a bit of a fixer-upper right now; however, that could be a good thing, seeing as the program’s next head coach may want to bring his own guys, hit the portal a bit, and build the program in his own image. We assume that Penn State will wait to meet with FAU coach Dusty May before making a hire, but grabbing Rhoades from VCU would be a solid move for the Nittany Lions as well.
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