Mike Rhoades ‘not making excuses’ in confronting roster-building challenges
Even before Mike Rhoades stepped foot onto the jet that would welcome him to Penn State for his introductory press conference on March 30, the task ahead was clear. The Nittany Lions’ new head coach and staff would need to build a roster for the 2023-24 season.
One of the nation’s most experienced teams, one that reached the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 and propelled Penn State to its first Big Ten title game since 2011, would be gutted. The top five for nearly every statistical category, most prominently scoring and minutes per game, were departing naturally. And, with attrition being a huge piece of the college basketball landscape anyway, more would likely follow.
Rhoades signed on anyway, eyes open to what that meant for his first weeks as the program’s new head coach.
“It is what it is. I knew the hand we were dealt, but it was our choice to take it, and we took it,” Rhoades told BWI on Thursday evening at the program’s annual CVC reception. “I never shy away from difficulties or things that don’t go your way. That’s the way I was raised. I’m not making excuses.”
Relying on experience for Mike Rhoades
For nine full weeks, that has repeatedly demonstrated itself in Penn State’s pursuit of a roster.
Enticed to take on the next challenge in his career, one that included successful stints at Randolph-Macon, as an assistant with Shaka Smart at VCU, to Rice, and back for a second six-season tenure with the Rams, Rhoades said the allure of a shared vision with athletic director Pat Kraft and university president Neeli Bendapudi warranted the early challenges.
But in welcoming Ace Baldwin and Nick Kern from VCU, retaining Kanye Clary, Jameel Brown, and Demetrius Lilley, and adding six transfer portal pieces in the ensuing weeks, Rhoades and his staff have filled all but one scholarship ahead of their debut seasons with the program. In doing so, he sought to rely on past experiences that shared similar traits.
“It’s OK. Some people run from it. Some people run to it. I’ve always been a guy to run to it,” Rhoades said. “I became a head coach at 25. And we had seven guys graduate and a legend of a coach. I took the job with Coach Smart, who’d never coached a game. People said, ‘Why would you give up your job there to go?’ Because I believed in him and believed in us. I took a job at Rice, people were saying it’s a dead-end job, it’s career suicide. So, I’m not afraid of that.
“You can look at it two ways. You look at it, ‘Oh it’s so hard,’ and you’re ready to build in excuses. Or you’re gonna say, ‘We’re gonna move forward and we’re gonna knock over roadblocks and find a way and not make one excuse.’”
Here is a look at how Rhoades has constructed his first roster at Penn State, with one remaining piece to add.
Where things stand (12 scholarships filled, 1 scholarship open)
PG Ace Baldwin, Kanye Clary, Bragi Gudmundsson
CG Jameel Brown, RayQuawndis Mitchell
SF Nick Kern, Zach Hicks, Puff Johnson, Leo O’Boyle
Penn State scholarship breakdown by class
Bonus year (3): Qudus Wahab, Leo O’Boyle, RayQuawndis Mitchell
Fourth year (2): Ace Baldwin, Puff Johnson
Third year (2): Nick Kern, Zach Hicks
Second year (4): Kanye Clary, Jameel Brown, Demetrius Lilley, Favour Aire
First year (1): Bragi Gudmundsson
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