ALTOONA, Pa. -- Something amazing happened Wednesday, and we have actual, legitimate proof of it.
Are you ready for this?
Do you know what that is?
THAT is Penn State committing to basketball. Which is exactly what everybody has been hoping the university would do, but deep down inside probably felt all along that it would not.
Penn State hired Mike Rhoades as the new basketball coach, signing him to a seven-year contract worth those figures above. All that comes to $25.9 million and averages out to $3.7 million a year, which are very impressive figures for the school.
The fact that Penn State even released those figures is amazing in and of itself. Because the school has never revealed basketball coaching salaries, for the simple fact that they were embarrassing.
Embarrassingly low, indicating something we all have known all along: The school was not fully committed to basketball.
In paying Rhoades this kind of money, Penn State and new AD Patrick Kraft have made quite a statement that the school is indeed ready to do what it takes to become a consistent, quality program.
I had heard from several sources that I trust at Penn State over the past week that the school had offered Micah Shrewsberry $4 million to stay. That number seemed darn near impossible for me to believe because of how cheap the school has always been with basketball, but these were people whom I usually rely on when it comes to matters pertaining to the athletic department.
Seeing the figures above for Rhoades, now I absolutely believe Penn State was offering Shrewsberry at least $4 million, and maybe even more, as a couple of people mentioned to me.
Keep in mind, this is from a school that was believed to be paying Patrick Chambers less than $1 million just six years or so ago. I say believed to be paying, because again, the school was so embarrassed by the figure that it never released the numbers for basketball, despite the media asking about it repeatedly over the years.
Shrewsberry is from Indiana, he got offered the Notre Dame job, and I felt all along that he simply had to take it. Which he did.
Kraft and Penn State didn't mess around in hiring Rhoades -- the only candidate we really heard anything about -- and giving him a lucrative contract, nearly doubling the $2 million he was believed to be making at VCU.
OK, so we've got the commitment with the head coach's salary. That's tremendous and exciting and all that jazz.
Now, Penn State has to show it's fully committed in everything else it does with basketball. That means a lot of money for assistant coaches, a lot of money/support for NIL, a lot of money for upgrades to the Bryce Jordan Center.
Basically, a lot of money for everything else that isn't just about the head coach.
Will the school do all of that? Well, for the first time in forever, the answer probably is yes. Or at least, it will be yes over time.
I'm not sure Penn State is going to reinvent the wheel here right away. A school that's usually been last in spending among Big Ten basketball programs may not jump into the top half right away, but the figures above represent a good start.
OTHER THOUGHTS
• I absolutely LOVE the fact that Rhoades is hiring Penn State legend Joe Crispin to his staff. Crispin, who had been head coach at Division III Rowan, is one of the best people in the sport. He's incredibly bright, he understands offensive basketball and how to help play an exciting brand.
I have a personal history with Crispin. I used to do my radio show at Penn State for the annual Coaches vs. Cancer charity event, and Joe and his brother Jon would always come on with me to talk hoops for half an hour, along with former Penn State player Tyler Smith. That was the best half hour of my show every single year, because hearing those guys discuss basketball and bust on each other was an absolute blast.
I endorsed Joe for the Penn State head coaching job, knowing full well he wasn't going to get it since he'd only been at the DIII level in his coaching career, but that just goes to show how much I think of him.
If you haven't heard it, here's my Memory Lane podcast from a few weeks ago with Crispin talking about Penn State's run to the Sweet 16 in 2001.
• Make no mistake, Rhoades is taking over a very difficult situation at Penn State, and there's a chance year one could be really rocky.
The Lions are losing most of their team -- eight of the top 11 scorers, including All-American Jalen Pickett -- three guys have already entered the transfer portal, and all of the recruits have asked to be released. That's what you call a roster numbers crunch.
Maybe Rhoades can convince some of the transfer portal guys to stay. Maybe he can bring some guys with him from VCU. Maybe he can land a couple of studs from the portal.
He's gonna have to do at least some of that for Penn State to be competitive next year. And hey, if the Lions are not competitive, nobody should bail on him yet, because this whole thing is gonna take time.
• "We will be bold, different and aggressive moving our program forward," Rhoades said in a university release. "We will play with great energy and excitement while always being relentless in our pursuit of making this basketball family into something special. I can’t wait to get to work.”
Kraft said: "We are excited to welcome Mike Rhoades as our head men’s basketball coach. 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."
What will that vision be? At VCU he relied on great defense but didn't always have great offense, so will that be the case with the Lions? Or, might the addition of Crispin, who loves to shoot 3s and get up and down the court, signify that Rhoades will be open to playing a fast-paced offense?
A lot of that certainly could depend on which players Rhoades can land from the transfer portal.
• How about a round of applause for Adam Fisher, a Penn State assistant the past couple of years who was named Temple's head coach Wednesday. Fisher did fantastic work with the Lions, and many inside the program championed him to be the next head coach.
I never felt Fisher would have been the right hire, because the school needed someone already proven as a head coach. But when you stop and think about it, there's a chance that Fisher actually landed a better job than Rhoades. No, not for more money, but Temple is one of the winningest programs in college basketball history and has been to the NCAA Tournament 10 times this century, compared to just three for Penn State.
