It’s official: Penn State hires VCU’s Mike Rhoades as new men’s basketball coach

Penn State has a new leader of its men’s basketball program.

The Nittany Lions hired VCU head coach Mike Rhoades to lead the program. The hire was unanimously approved by the board of trustees’ subcommittee on compensation Wednesday afternoon.

The contract is for seven years and begins at $3.4 million guaranteed, escalating by $100,000 every year for a total of $25.9 million. Rhoades’ buyout begins at $15 million and drops $3 million every year until season six when it drops to $1.5 million and season seven when it drops to zero.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the program and Rhoades were in discussions and the Centre Daily Times reported he would be hired Wednesday morning.

“We are excited to welcome Mike Rhoades as our head men’s basketball coach,” athletic director Pat Kraft said in a release. “He is a veteran head coach who is a proven winner at multiple levels. Mike has been a tremendous recruiter and talent developer throughout his career. As a Pennsylvania native with a strong family history with our University, Mike understands what it means to be a Penn Stater and how impactful it is to be part of Nittany Nation. Mike has a vision of how to build Penn State Basketball into a championship program.”

Rhoades spent the last six seasons coaching VCU and led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament three times in that time period, including going 27-8 this season with a regular season Atlantic 10 title and an Atlantic 10 Tournament championship before being bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to his time in Virginia, he coached the Rice Owls for three seasons, leading the program to a 23-12 in his final year before heading to VCU.

His return to the Rams came after he spent 2009-2014 with the program as the associate head coach under Shaka Smart.

Rhoades will join the Nittany Lions after former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry departed for Notre Dame after only two seasons at the helm, including this year’s team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The new head coach will have work to do after recruits Carey Booth and Logan Imes requested to be released from their national letters of intent to Penn State, and with three-star recruit Braeden Shrewsberry set to follow his dad and join the Fighting Irish, per a source with knowledge of the situation.

Penn State also loses six seniors, including all-time great Jalen Pickett, and will have to rebuild its team through the transfer portal heading into next season.