Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches heading into 2023-24 season
By Caleb Hall
No. 12: Mike Rhoades, Penn State Nittany Lions
Mike Rhoades has had his share of coaching in the last 23 years, and he is finally getting his shot at coaching a power 6 program, even if it is Penn State. Rhoades coached division 3 basketball for ten years, where he led Randolph-Macon to multiple tournament appearances and sweet sixteens. He then took over the Rice Owls for 3 years, where in his 3rd season he took the Owls to 23 wins and a CBI quarter final bid.
Rhoades has been at VCU since the 2017-18 season, and he has been quite successful there for VCU. He has posted 3 tournament appearances, and although they didn’t make it past the first round, it is impressive that Rhoades is able to get that program to multiple tournament bids.
Rhoades will take over Penn State and try to ride the high that program has been on when Micah Shrewsberry was manning the helm. Rhoades has been waiting for his time to helm a power 6 program like Penn State, and while it isn’t Michigan State or Indiana, it is still a program that can be taken places in this conference.
The only question is, will Rhoades be able to lead Penn State to the promised land? That question is still to be answered, but with 373 career wins, anything looks to be possible for Mike Rhoades. He just has to put it all together for the Nittany Lions.