MIKE RHOADES
Associate Head Coach Lebanon Valley, ‘94, third season
Mike Rhoades is a basketball man. Just ask him.
“I don’t have hobbies. It’s basketball. It’s my family and basketball, that’s it,” says the father of three, matter-of-factly. “I know sometimes I have to golf. I don’t want to golf. I’ll go play with my kids or play pickup basketball now before I do anything else.”
It’s a mindset that was carved out on the playgrounds of his Penn- sylvania hometown as boy, but has followed him throughout an impressive career. Rhoades gave himself to the game, and the game rewarded him. He’s been All-State, an All-American, a National Champion and a Coach of the Year. He was a college head coach at 25. Now, 39, Mike Rhoades has already accomplished more than some do in a lifetime.
His long love affair with basketball reached its apex last year as he helped guide the Black & Gold to its historic Final Four run.
“It was an unbelievably special time for everyone involved with our program and it’s something my family and I will never, ever forget,” Rhoades said.
This summer, Rhoades was promoted to Associate Head Coach.
“Mike is an invaluable member of our coaching staff and a terrific re- source for our student-athletes,” Smart said. “His work ethic, knowl- edge of the game and enthusiasm have contributed significantly to our success.”
Now in his third season with the Black & Gold, he has proved to be vital part of the program’s success not only on the court, where the squad has posted 55 wins in two years, but also off the floor, where the Rams landed one of the top mid-major recruiting classes in the country.
Smart and Rhoades didn’t know each other well before the spring of 2009, but their reputations preceded them. Boston Celtics Assistant Coach Kevin Eastman, a former Richmond and VCU assistant with strong local ties, is an acquaintance of both men, and suggested Smart give Rhoades a look.
“Mike’s intense and he has a toughness about him that belies his kind and caring personality,” Smart said. “He has an intensity on the floor that in some ways reminds me of Billy Donovan’s. I really value that, because let’s face it, if we want our players to be intense and competitive and tough, then we have to be that way too.”
34 VCU MEN’S BASKETBALL Rhoades lives just 20 minutes away from VCU, but his first meeting
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