Mike Rhoades was introduced at Penn State on Thursday as the new men’s basketball coach, and he quickly offered a colorful comment: “I told the president the other day I’m a pit bull with manners,” Rhoades said. “We will continue to push forward without a doubt.”

Rhoades, who was hired from VCU, said his staff is already with him, and pointed to Jamal Brunt, J.D. Byers, Brent Scott, Jimmy Martelli and Joe Crispin. He also explained his style of play.

“We will be bold, different and aggressive … we will be blue collar,” Rhoades said. “We will have dirt on our hands.”

Rhoades is from Mahanoy City in eastern Pennsylvania, and he replaces Micah Shrewsberry, who was hired away by Notre Dame last week. Rhoades, 50, was 129-61 in 6 seasons at VCU, including 3 NCAA Tournament bids. He also spent 3 seasons at Rice, and went 23-12 in the final year with the Owls before returning to VCU.

Along with Rhoades, Athletics Director Pat Kraft also spoke at the event, and explained that he wanted to find a coach who wanted to be at Penn State. But he didn’t go into specifics about the coaching search.

H/T Audrey Snyder and Seth Engle.