Penn State men's basketball head coach Mike Rhoades understands why the Nittany Lions have struggled to redeem themselves and be consistent as a program.
Since he took over as head coach, Rhoades has put together just one winning season, and barely so at that. In 2024-25, Penn State finished 16-15 overall, but put together a terrible Big Ten record at 6-14. The season before, the Nittany Lions were one win away from hitting double digit Big Ten victories, butultimately fell short. In 2025-26, Rhoades' squad with tons of new, promising talent finished 12-20 overall and 3-17 in the Big Ten, These were the worst records Penn State finished with since Rhoades was hired.
It's embarrassing being a bottom of the barrel team with pretty much zero room to grow. Compared to other Big Ten teams, Rhoades knows that the blue and white will never reach that level of spending simply because that's not the priority in Happy Valley.
In his interview with Audrey Snyder, athletic director Pat Kraft essentially confirmed exactly that.
"No, we're not spending $20 million on a basketball roster. And I gotta be honest, I don't know if there will ever be a point where we would spend $20 million on a basketball roster," Kraft told Snyder. "It's not a good investment. Let's just call it what it is."
ICYMI on Penn State hoops spending https://t.co/5A5ELawccC pic.twitter.com/HLc02mgeYw
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) July 27, 2026
Pat Kraft says prioritizing Penn State basketball is "not a good investment"
Obviously, Penn State isn't a basketball school. It's unfair to think Kraft should prioritize men's (and/or women's) basketball over football, wrestling, women's volleyball, and even men's hockey. He shouldn't. However, it's still certainly a bold statement for Kraft to outright say allocating a significant portion of the pot towards basketball isn't a good investment.
Kraft isn't blind to the fact that NIL is incredibly important in college athletics today, so he's aware that giving Rhoades practically nothing in comparison to other teams in the Big Ten sets the Nittany Lions up for failure.
It's the brutal truth that both parties, Rhoades and Kraft, have accepted, which unfortunately means that Rhoades will probably be on his way out after his contract ends.
Penn State couldn't build its basketball program up before NIL, and it certainly won't do it during its era. Kraft would have to allocate much more than roster money in order to make the Nittany Lions competitive — not to mention competitive in the Big Ten. He isn't willing to do that, and Penn State fans can't necessarily blame him for that when other sports, specifically those that don't require significant NIL funds, have success already.
The money will go where the results are, and Nittany Lion basketball never really had those to begin with.
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