Penn State in the NCAA Tournament? 'Why Not?' Coach Mike Rhoades Asks

Rhoades brings high expectations into his second season as the Nittany Lions' men's basketball coach.

Penn State men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades looks on from the bench during the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Bryce Jordan Center in 2023. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Mike Rhoades’ first season as Penn State’s men’s basketball coach was about laying the foundation for the program. Ahead of his second season at the helm, Rhoades is shooting for the stars. 

“Let’s beat teams in the Big Ten, let’s get into the NCAA Tournament. Why not?” Rhoades said Wednesday at the team’s preseason media day. “We got older guys that have battled, we have some great pieces. Now, we’ve got a long way to go to get there, but let’s throw it on the table, let’s talk about it.”

The Nittany Lions went 16-17 last season and 9-11 in Big Ten play. It was an uphill battle for Rhoades when he arrived at Penn State, which had just three returning scholarship players on the roster. The team’s leading scorer at the time, Kanye Clary, was dismissed from the team in February 2024 and later transferred to Mississippi State. 

To fill the early gaps, Rhoades brought with him two of his former players at VCU: Ace Baldwin Jr., the reigning Big Ten defensive player of the year, and Nick Kern Jr. Rhoades remained busy in the transfer portal, adding Zach Hicks, Puff Johnson and D’Marco Dunn to round out his starting rotation. Led by the veteran transfers, Rhoades’ team started to build “great momentum” in the second half of the season. The Nittany Lions pulled off ranked upsets over No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 12 Illinois and came within two points of defeating Big Ten runner-up Indiana in the conference tournament.

All five of those transfers are back for Year 2 at Penn State, and their veteran experience has shined through this offseason. 

“It’s part of being a senior,” Rhoades said. “Maybe you see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I just think they have more of a singular focus of getting better and doing things the right way. That’s sort of what you want to see in Year 2 of trying to build a program, that your older guys are taking the culture of work that you’re trying to create and taking it to another level.” 

Rhoades took to the portal again this offseason, securing guards Freddie Dilione V (Tennessee) and Eli Rice (Nebraska) and big men in Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Northern Illinois) and Kachi Nzeh (Xavier). In his inaugural recruiting class, Rhoades also reeled in 4-star center Miles Goodman and 3-star guards Hudson Ward, Jahvin Carter and Dominick Stewart in his top-30 recruiting class. 

Penn State now has a mix of veteran leaders and young talent, and Rhoades isn’t going to shy away from getting the freshmen involved early. 

“Oh, I’m gonna play them. I’ll throw them in the fire,” Rhoades said. “Some days, they’ll be pretty good; you’ll be writing about them. Other days as freshmen, sometimes you learn by getting burned.” 

Rhoades said that, in his first meeting with athletic director Pat Kraft in 2023, he made clear how committed he is to changing the narrative around Penn State basketball. He wants to take the program from having “pockets of success” to a program whose success can outlast his own coaching career. 

“I’m gonna be aggressive in letting people know this is what the program needs to continue to move forward with all of that, and I’m not gonna apologize for that,” Rhoades said. “I’m gonna be unapologetic for trying to build a winning program that is going to be like Michigan State someday or Purdue someday. Why not? And I think everybody who wants to support us, they want that too.”

Expectations outside the program aren't high. In a preseason media poll, the Nittany Lions were picked to finish 17th in the new 18-team Big Ten. But inside the program, it's not just Rhoades who’s bullish about the team. The players also enter the season with expectations of being a potential dark horse in the Big Ten. 

“We know the talent that we have in this locker room is really good, and we can be one of the best teams in the Big Ten,” Johnson said. “I feel like we could be real dangerous.”

Penn State plays Lafayette on Friday night in a charity exhibition game at Lebanon Valley College, Rhoades' alma mater. The Nittany Lions open the 2024-25 season Nov. 4 against Binghamton at the Bryce Jordan Center.

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Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson