Penn State basketball reportedly lands next head coach
Penn State basketball has its next head coach, according to a report.
Per college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Virginia Commonwealth’s Mike Rhoades has accepted the job. He will replace Micah Shrewsberry, who left earlier this month for the Notre Dame vacancy.
Sources: VCU's Mike Rhoades has officially accepted the head coaching vacancy at Penn State.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 29, 2023
Rhoades just finished his 6th season at VCU. He led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament 3 times and won the Atlantic-10 Tournament title this past season.
Prior to coaching at VCU, he was Rice’s head coach for 3 seasons. In 2016-17, Rhoades led Rice to 23 victories which still stands as the program’s highest win-total since 1954.
Penn State has not officially announced the hiring.
What this means for Penn State
Rhoades will have big shoes to fill. Shrewsberry did a terrific job during his short tenure at Penn State, leading the Nittany Lions to their 1st NCAA Tournament in more than a decade. Shrewsberry only spent 2 years at Penn State, but he is responsible for 1 of the program’s 3 March Madness appearances this century.
Rhoades comes from a long line of VCU head coaches who have left to take jobs at the high-major level. Before Rhoades, it was Will Wade who left for LSU. Wade took over for Shaka Smart, who got the Texas job. Smart replaced Anthony Grant, who left for the Alabama vacancy. Before Grant it was Jeff Capel, who departed for the Oklahoma gig.
All 4 of those coaches have gone on to have some measure of success. Wade turned LSU into a contender before being fired for cause. Smart struggled at Texas, but has since put together a great run at Marquette. The same could be said for Grant, who didn’t last at Alabama but has been very good at Dayton. Capel brought the Sooners to the Elite Eight and is now in good standings at Pittsburgh.