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BWI Live: Penn State basketball coach update, spring practice breakdown

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby: Thomas Frank Carr03/29/23ThomasFrankCarr
Mike Rhoades Penn State Basketball On3
BROOKLYN, NY - MARCH 12: VCU Rams Head Coach Mike Rhoades celebrates winning the Atlantic 10 Mens Basketball Championship game between the Dayton Flyers and VCU Rams on March 12, 2023, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Penn State football held an open practice on Tuesday evening, the weekly chance for the media to check the team’s progress. While that would normally be the top story of the BWI Live show on Monday, things are moving in the Penn State men’s basketball head coaching search. Today, reporter Nate Bauer will discuss the story he broke early Wednesday morning about VCU head coach Mike Rhoades and his candidacy for the job. 

Penn State set to hire new coach

Bauer will start the show by discussing the situation with host Thomas Frank Carr. Then, Bauer will explain how Penn State got to this situation with Rhoades and what the next steps are before he is officially announced as the team’s newest head coach. 

After discussing where the team goes from here, Bauer will trade places with reporter Greg Pickel, who joins T-Frank to discuss Penn State practice. As always, T-Frank and Pickel will take questions and comments throughout the show, so if you can, join the show live at 10 am on YouTube to get your questions and thoughts heard! If you haven’t yet, subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube.

Spring practice observations

The two will give their observations from spring ball, deliver any relevant news, and discuss what they heard from players and coaches after practice. Pickel spoke with corner Johnny Dixon and offensive linemen Caedan Wallace and Olu Fashanu and will give his thoughts on their conversations. 

Next, they’ll discuss what head coach James Franklin had to say after practice during Between The Lines where they interpret what the head coach is really saying during his press conference. Today they’ll focus on his repeated call for more physicality from the young players on the roster.

“Yeah, I’d like to see some of the young guys kind of take the next step. We’re halfway through right now, and a lot of them are still kind of hesitant and not as aggressive as they need to be. Defensively, I think we’re actually playing pretty well right now. That’s been good to see. But overall, we still got a ton of work to do before the spring game,” Franklin said.

Next, they’ll discuss Franklin’s thoughts on the Penn State quarterback competition between Drew Allar and Beau Pribula. 

“I would say they have both gotten reps with the ones, which has been good. You know, they’re different styles of quarterbacks. I think that’s one of the things we’re going to have to do a good job with during the season. It’s not like we can just come up with one exact same game plan because they are different types of quarterbacks.”

Finally, they’ll answer fans’ questions from the live chat on YouTube and from message board members at bluewhiteillustrated.com. If you want to get your question on the mailbag show, subscribe right now to BWI and get access to premium content and the message board for just $29.99. 

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