Penn State Basketball's NIL Program Has Changed 'Night and Day,' Mike Rhoades Says

The Nittany Lions have improved "tremendously" in NIL resources, the second-year basketball coach says.

Penn State men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades on the sideline against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during a 2023 Big Ten game. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

At Penn State this week, Athletic Director Patrick Kraft is getting plenty of flowers. First from football coach James Franklin, and then from men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades.

On Wednesday, the first day of basketball's early signing period, Rhoades said that his program's NIL structure and funding have improved "tremendously" since he took over the program in 2023. In fact, asked about his NIL program at his weekly media availability, Rhoades smiled.

"Night and day, man," Rhoades said. "Night and day." The second-year coach then praised Kraft for his willingness to meet, or at least discuss, Rhoades requests for program resources.

"You know what’s great is, I have an ADand I can walk into his office and talk to him about [NIL] and talk to him about different things and moving the program forward, and his first comment isn’t, 'Get out of my office and no,'" Rhoades said. "It's, 'Alright, let’s see how we can figure this out and let’s talk about it.' You’ve heard me say from day one that there's some things that we've got to immediately attack, and there's other things that are going to be long-term projects, long-term changes. I think Pat Kraft is unreal when it comes to that, and he's got to balance 31 sports. I only have to balance one."

All 31 sports are getting more complicated. For this early signing period, coaches and athletic directors must factor in the start of revenue sharing for the 2025-26 athletic calendar. As Yahoo! Sports reported, athletes no longer are signing National Letters of Intent but Name, Image and Likeness contracts with athletic departments and collectives. Rhoades did not detail Penn State's process but did reference the complexity of these new deals.

"There's other things involved in it now in terms of what’s going on in the future," Rhoades said. "There are third parties involved. As everything changes, you can never be shocked with surprises, but it’s also important to clearly understand the next steps in all of this. ... I want to be as transparent in all of this changing of the landscape for the people coming here. I don't want there to be any surprises. I want [players and their families] to have a clear understanding of all the commitments, contracts and understandings so that, when they get here, they can concentrate on getting one of the world's best educations and playing high-level basketball and knowing they're fully supported."

Kraft has said that Penn State basketball can win consistently given the proper resources. The Nittany Lions went 16-17 in Rhoades' first season, which was a race to put together a roster from the transfer portal. Penn State is 3-0 this season with three blowout wins. The Nittany Lions play their first road game of the season Friday, taking on Virginia Tech in the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore.

"Every year, we're going in to make the NCAA Tournament. That's the expectation," Kraft said in July at Big Ten football media days. "... I really, really like this roster. I like the leadership coming back with Ace [Baldwin Jr.], and having a year in the Big Ten was really important."

Rhoades' praise of Kraft followed that of Franklin, who on Monday cited the athletic director's tenure since 2022 in improving fundraising and resources for the football team. Penn State in August signed Kraft to a significant contract extension through 2032.

"That is a credit to [Penn State President] Neeli Bendapudi, [Board of Trustees chair] Matt [Schuyler] and clearly Pat Kraft," Franklin said. "Clearly Pat Kraft, walk-on linebacker in the Big Ten, who approaches his job like that every single day. And I mean that with total respect."

Rhoades didn't mention that Kraft played linebacker at Indiana (which Penn State could see in the College Football Playoff) but did note Kraft's influence in upgrading Penn State basketball's NIL program.

"He listens, he hears me out, we even argue, and I love it," Rhoades said. "It's a healthy argument. I love talking to his staff about things when I throw ideas to them. So that part has been super supportive, and NIL has been super supportive, and we have found different ways to improve that tremendously. And I’m always going to hammer that away, because the better that gets, the better opportunity and support we can give our guys."

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