Penn State's Mike Rhoades Finds 'Hope' Despite Winless Big Ten Start

The Nittany Lions have played ranked teams close but still want to get that first conference win.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades reacts to a call during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | The Penn State men’s basketball team hasn’t had an easy start to its Big Ten schedule, facing four ranked teams in its first five games. The Nittany Lions still haven’t defeated a conference opponent, although they've come close against Michigan State, Michigan and Purdue. 

Yet Penn State coach Mike Rhoades is adamant that, during this stretch of losing to three straight ranked teams, he hasn’t been dejected, and neither has the team. 

“When you’re dejected, you don’t have any hope,” Rhoades said Monday at his weekly press conference. “I’m the complete opposite. I have a lot of hope with these guys, but you have to go through it all. … With these guys I do have a lot of hope, because they’re doing things the right way, they’re acting the right way, they’re working the right way. You just want to see results.”

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With eight freshmen on the roster, making Penn State one of the youngest teams in the country, a losing streak like this easily could cause low morale. However, Rhoades’ approach to coaching the mental side of basketball has helped the team maintain confidence despite not winning back-to-back games since the beginning of December. 

“I think my job is to the mental side of it, is own it, learn from it, move on and be present where you’re at,” Rhoades said.

'We're sticking together'

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Mason Blackwood (1) fights for a rebound against Purdue Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff (45) during the first half at Mackey Arena. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

As its record nears .500 (9-7, 0-5 Big Ten) after an 8-1 non-conference start, Penn State’s locker room remains committed to each other, which has been important during this time of growth and development. 

“We’re getting closer and closer [to winning] every game and we know that we just want to work on a couple of things and start getting some wins,” senior forward Josh Reed said. “But we’re still close in the locker room, we’re sticking together. We have faith and belief in each other and in the coaches and we know we can turn it around.”

Freshman guard Kayden Mingo, the team’s leading scorer, has been sidelined the past two games due to injury, which added more adversity over the past week. Mingo is “recovering rapidly,” Rhoades said, but the coach didn’t provide a timeline for his return. Freshman forward Tibor Mirtic, who averaged 14 minutes per game, will also miss time “rehabbing” a knee injury, Rhoades said.  

“It’s a next-man-up mentality,” Reed said. “We know Kayden is a great player, and he’ll be back, and he’ll be a huge help to us whenever he gets back. But knowing that he’s not going to play for a while, and that’s nothing we can change, so we just have to play with the guys we have and keep working together and hopefully come up with some wins soon.”

Rhoades often talks about what this team can and cannot control and what he prioritizes to focus on. 

“We can’t control what’s next and we can’t worry about what’s going to happen,” Rhoades said. “I know that’s hard, especially for 18 to 22-year-old competitive athletes. But I do know this and I believe this: that if you just try to stack days upon days and you will be all about the process, all about trying to get better, you’re putting yourself in a better position to get the results you want.”

An opportunity coming?

Penn State Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades talks to his players during a timeout against the Pitt Panthers at the Giant Center. | Taj Falconer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State plays UCLA (11-5) at home Wednesday, which on paper represents a more favorable test. But Rhoades doesn’t want there to be extra pressure to win. With each game, win or lose, Penn State has gained significant confidence, which has translated to in-game resiliency while battling some of the top teams in the country. 

“I think when you’re younger, I’m not going to say a level of doubt, but when you don’t play well, you don’t get the results, and I think it’s very, very important for me as the leader of the program to come in every day ready to go to work and give them confidence and give them juice,” Rhoades said. 

But that doesn’t mean the Nittany Lions aren’t being held accountable. 

“As a coach, I could beat them down and tell them what they’re doing wrong over and over again, well, what does that do?” Rhoades said. “That doesn’t make them excited to play the next day or come to practice and get better…You don’t beat a team to keep them down, you call it out, you move on, and you build them up and keep finding more for them, them finding more in themselves and that’s what’s really important.”

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