Penn State men’s basketball is likely headed for an early end to their season, though honestly, not much earlier than in previous years.
The team is last place in the conference, having gone just 3-17 in the B1G, and are 12-19 overall. A decent 9-2 start to the year in the non-conference quickly turned into one of the worst years the team has had in recent memory.
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While it’s no surprise that the Lions struggled this year – basketball has historically not been very good – it’s also fairly typical for the team to make SOME noise. An upset here or there, vying for a middling seed in the conference tournament, maybe a NIT or a rare NCAAT bid.
Not this year. For whatever reason, this team just has not been good. Again, jokes aside, while the men’s basketball team is rarely ever good, they usually are at least competitive.
Now all that remains to be seen is whether Pat Kraft will make the decision to fire Mike Rhoades. Rhoades was one of the first big hires that Kraft made back in 2023, just 8 months into Kraft’s tenure as athletic director. Firing coaches is not new for ADs, but firing coaches you hired is an admission of failure. Will Kraft do the obvious thing and axe Rhoades?
The B1G tournament is this week, and with Penn State as the #18 seed, they’ll play #15 Northwestern, who are also not good, at just 5-15 in conference play, but managed to torch the Lions 94-73 the last time they played. Maybe the team can conjure some magic and make a run in the tourney, but barring the literal unthinkable, their season will end whenever their tournament does.
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
