Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades press conference
Penn State basketball introduced the next head coach of the program on Thursday, Mike Rhoades. The former Virginia Commonwealth head coach replaces Micah Shrewsberry, who left last week to take the vacant Notre Dame job. After a week of searching, Athletic Director Pat Kraft selected the 50-year-old Rhoades to lead the program into the future.
Not only that, but the athletic department gave an precedented seven-year contract and made the details public. Kraft was asked why he did that during the roughly 23-minutes of question an answer on Thursday afternoon. Check out his full comments below. Here are some of the topics that came up with Rhoades’ answers.
Penn State coach Mike Rhoades meets the media
Why bring on former Penn State basketball player and Rowan coach Joe Crispin to the staff?
“Joe knows basketball. He has the same mentality as this staff. We’re going to out-work everybody. To have another guy on the staff that has that and knows this place, that’s impressive.”
The Penn State basketball program has been through a tumultuous three-and-a-half years. How do you plan to bring stability to the program?
Well, the level of commitment to our staff and players, is number one. The best thing we can do with these guys is work them hard and love them harder. But we’re committed. The alignment of the president, our AD, and coaches [is important].
When we were talking, we were talking about a plan, not just to get hot. You have to get commitment from everybody. This is Penn State, you’re always going to do it with class and dignity. And you can do that and win.
What when through your mind when you heard from Penn State and realized you were a candidate for the job?
I’ve always loved Penn State. I grew up in Schuylkill county. Last year Jodie and I sat on our back porch and watched the Penn State wrestling championships. I have a Penn State wrestling t-shirt. I have a Penn State t-shirt now.
Our conversations were as real as you could get. “Rhoadsey, what do you need to succeed?”
Other topics that Rhoades discussed on Thursday included the style of basketball he plans to implement in the program. He also spoke about facilities and Name Imagne and Likness in the modern basketball landscape. The team currently has only three scholarship players on the roster after a large contingent of senior players graduated from the program and several others, including Evan Mahaffey and Jameel Brown, entered the transfer portal this week.
