Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades continues to be honest about where his team stands, and as I’ve said plenty of times, it’s tough to argue with.
Following another difficult loss for the Nittany Lions against Wisconsin, Rhoades acknowledged the struggles, while also doubling down on his thinking that Penn State basketball can be fixed.
“I’ll be up all night trying to figure it out and go right back at it, and we have to change some things,” Rhoades said, per Amanda Vogt. “... I’ve been at some other places too, and you have some tough years and you got to learn from everything.”
The losses haven’t just happened, but they’ve been really ugly. For a program that’s never been great, losing is one thing, but getting blown out on your home court when you’re playing at Rec Hall is just something that can’t happen.
Luckily for Penn State fans who want this to be fixed, Rhoades gets that.
“…Building a program is really hard, but I signed up for it, man, and I believe in me,” Rhoades said. “I believe in how we do things. Some of you guys may not, I don’t really care. I’ve never really cared before, but I’ll figure it out.”
On the one hand, the results haven’t met expectations. However, on the other hand, Rhoades is still in the early stages of trying to build a program that can win in the Big Ten and hopefully a game or two in the NCAA Tournament.
Rhoades has been through this before, as he spoke about past stops where growth didn’t happen overnight, stating that tough seasons are just part of it. For fans, patience is being tested. For the players, there’s reason to think a lot of them are upset and I can’t blame them. Everyone wants to win and when fans are this angry, it doesn’t help.
There’s a lot that has to be changed for Penn State to get to where it wants to be. There are rightful questions about Rhoades doing so. Until he answers them, I get it.
“It might kill me, but I’m going to figure it out,” Rhoades said.