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We hope you are ready for a season unlike any other: testing, distancing, and bubbles, oh my! Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen, when it is going to happen, or whether anything actually will happen…but in the meantime we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches/administrators in the country. We continue our coverage with VCU coach Mike Rhoades. He was a national POY/national champ in college, became a head coach at age 25, and made the Final 4 in 2011 as an assistant for a #11 seed. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Rhoades about his team’s health last year and his expectations for this year.
At Lebanon Valley College you had a 7-PT OT win over NYU in the D-3 title game in 1994 and then were named D-3 national POY in 1995: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? People ask me about my greatest basketball experience and it is winning that title: those teammates remain my best friends and I love them like brothers. I fell in love with basketball and worked hard at it. I think my edge was that I liked being in the gym all the time trying to get better, which created some great opportunities for me.
You graduated as the school’s all-time leader in PTS/AST/STL/FT%: how were you able to balance all of these different aspects of your game? I had a great high school coach in Mickey Holland who won more than 700 games during his career: he gave me great confidence and taught me a lot. I found a great fit at Lebanon Valley and had a pair of coaches who held me to a high standard of getting better each year and doing everything at a high level.
You became head coach at Randolph-Macon in 1999 at age 25 and made 4 D-3 tourneys in a 5-year stretch from 2002-2006: how were you able to come in and have so much success at such a relatively young age? I was around really good coaches my whole life and playing on successful teams helped build my foundation. My 3 years as an assistant to Coach Hal Nunnally were like an apprenticeship: he allowed me to coach/recruit and showed me how to run a program. There is a lot of trial/error when you are in your 20s but Hal really taught me how to become a head coach.
You won the 2010 CBI title as an assistant to Shaka Smart at VCU, then made the 2011 Final 4 as a #11 seed: where does your 10-PT win over #1-seed Kansas rank among the best wins in school history, and how were you able to do it? VCU had won a lot of games well before Coach Smart/I arrived but that is certainly 1 of the biggest ones. To beat a blue blood like Kansas to get to the Final 4 while leading most of the game was great. Shaka gave us a great style of play and we all took hold of it.
You had back-to-back 20-loss seasons in your 1st 2 years as head coach at Rice, then won 23 games in 2017: how were you able to make such a huge turnaround? 1 day at a time! We had a high standard from day 1 and held everyone (including myself) accountable. If you hold everyone to a low standard then the winners will leave. We had a great staff and built things to last: I had a great AD/players and loved my time there.
In 2017 you were hired as head coach at VCU and in 2019 you won the A-10 regular season title and were named conference COY: why did you take the job, and how does the A-10 now compare to the CAA a decade ago? The best way to answer this is that it is VCU: my wife and I used to attend VCU games on date night! I always thought that it would be a great place to coach at and it is pretty surreal now that I am here. I always wanted to be at a place where winning matters like it does here. The CAA had some great teams a decade ago but I think the A-10 is 1 of the best leagues in the country, especially when you see how our teams play in both non-conference and postseason games.
Last year you started 17-6 before losing 7 of your final 8 games: what happened, and how are you going to fix it? The wheels fell off, without a doubt: it was 1 of the craziest years I have seen during my 24 years of coaching. We had so many guys out due to injury/illness: even when we were 17-6 I knew that we were just starting the hardest part of our schedule. We hung in there but had some problems with lineups and could not get over the hump. We just need to make sure that everyone is healthy and responds better.
In the 2020 A-10 tourney you were scheduled to play UMass in the 2nd round before learning that the rest of the postseason was canceled due to the coronavirus: what was your reaction when you 1st heard the news, and do you think that it was the right decision? Absolutely: at the time we did not know what was going on but when there are so many question marks the #1 thing is the safety of your players. As we continue to get more information we can decide how to move forward but I commend our conference leadership for making the right call. Things came to a halt and our season just stopped: we were excited for the postseason but it was out of our control and I felt really bad for our seniors.
You lost 5 seniors from last year and your leading scorer/rebounder Marcus Santos-Silva transferred to Texas Tech: how are you going to replace all of that offense/leadership? By getting better! We have a transfer from Kansas State in Levi Stockard III who is a lot of fun to coach as well as some younger guys who looked good last year. Our freshman class is very talented and I love our morale and how close we are: we just need to get some scrapes/bruises after being thrown into the fire.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? We are going to try to win the league and beat the teams on our schedule. We need to toughen up and get some experience: I like our size and think we have a better shooting team than last year. Some people are counting us out but I like the direction that we are heading.