Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches in 2023 offseason

By Joey Loose | Apr 17, 2023

Feb 16, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter fist bumps Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo after the game at Mackey Arena. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 75 to 65. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

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Virginia Commonwealth Rams head coach Mike Rhoades Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports /

12. Mike Rhoades – Penn State

Rhoades has been a collegiate head coach for nearly two decades after playing his college ball at Lebanon Valley. He was one of the best D3 basketball players in the country nearly 30 years ago and got his coaching career started right away. He spent a decade at Randolph-Macon, a D2 school in Virginia, and has served as head coach at Rice and VCU. Rhoades was also an assistant on the 2011 VCU squad that made the Final Four as an 11-seed.

Rhoades is the sole new hire in the Big Ten this offseason, leaving us to focus on his previous work instead of what he’s done in a few weeks with the Nittany Lions. After engineering a solid turnaround at Rice, he’s taken VCU to three NCAA Tournaments, including one to finish off a 27-win season this year. His six seasons at VCU as head coach were certainly successful and he inherits a Penn State program coming off significant success of its own.

At every head coaching stop, Rhoades has either built or sustained success, and that’s exactly what the Nittany Lions are hoping he brings to Happy Valley. Penn State is not a traditional basketball power by any means and the hope is that Rhoades can continue some of their recent momentum, even with a brand new roster and direction for the program. He’s won nearly 400 games already in his coaching career, how many more will he accumulate at Penn State?

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