Penn State may have a VCU home-and-home to plan
Unlike college football, non-conference matchups in college basketball are not typically mapped out years in advance. But we can probably prepare ourselves for a future home-and-home scheduling agreement for Penn State in the coming years. After buying out the contract of head coach Mike Rhoades from VCU, the Nittany Lions will reportedly be required to set up a bit of a reunion tour with Rhoades’ previous employer.
According to CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, part of the deal to complete the buyout of Rhoades’ contract with VCU is for Penn State to set up a future home-and-home series with the Rams. When the games will take pace remains to be seen, although it may not be likely to happen as soon as the 2023-24 season.
Penn State was previously reported to be lined up as a participant in the 2023 ESPN Invitational. One of the other schools reportedly included in the lineup is VCU, so a matchup between Rhoades’ current and former teams is entirely possible next season. And in part because of that, any non-conference matchup may not take place until the 2024-25 season at the earliest.
Sources: As part of Mike Rhoades' buyout with VCU, Penn State will be required to begin a future home-and-home series with the Rams.
This has been a common practice when VCU has lost its head coaches to power conference programs.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 30, 2023
As noted by Rothstein, a home-and-home deal with a school hiring away its coach is not uncommon. After VCU lost head coach Shaka Smart to Texas, the Rams hosted the Longhorns for a home game two seasons later and visited Texas the following season. And after losing Will Wade to a head coaching opportunity at LSU, VCU hosted the Tigers two years later but had already played at LSU prior to the coaching change. No additional games have since been played.
So, if this pattern holds, count on Penn State making a trip to VCU in 2024-25 or 2025-26, with a return trip to State College to follow the next season.
Penn State officially announced the hiring of Mike Rhoades to be the program’s new head basketball coach. Rhoades is now going all in on filling out a coaching staff and a roster for the upcoming basketball season.
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