The Blog

Will February Matter?

On a frustrating January and a familiar feeling. (Photo via GoPSUSports.com)

As the clock wound down on Penn State men’s basketball’s biggest showcase of the season for the home crowd, February ticked closer. 

With each of those ticks, the anxiousness of February and its usual meaning to Penn State basketball gripped tighter while fans filtered out of Rec Hall. Nothing about the team’s recent performance dissuaded any of it.

Will the second month of the year – the second-to-last month of the college basketball season – mean anything this year? Or will this February – and season – be like most others? 

Will it matter?

Thursday night’s effort – or lack of – concluded a January that was a dud for Mike Rhoades in his second season as head coach. Now the calendar turns to a February that will determine whether or not this season is remembered as just another for Penn State’s men’s program or something more.

February is the worst month to care about Penn State’s men’s program. It’s a month that’s never been fair, friendly or kind to the hopes of a season. Even when it has looked hopeful, it has also felt hopeless. Some seasons die in February while some seasons die before it even begins, rendering the month moot. Even February 2023 was unkind to Penn State’s program before it roared back in early March to make it to the NCAA Tournament. 

But that’s the exception to the rule. 

Almost never does February give way to a meaningful March. Very rarely does Penn State play an inspiring February, and with the way things looked in January, there’s no reason to believe that will change this year. 

When February starts to settle in, it brings a chill that with each passing year Penn State men’s basketball is no further ahead to where it was the year prior. It seemed that entering this offseason last year’s February would matter in 2024-25. It spurred a little more energy and enthusiasm, in part because of a win over Illinois at Rec Hall, into this offseason. That offseason set up a core group of veterans returning, adding a sense of optimism that is usually found buzzing around Penn State’s ardent fandom regardless of logic. That core found a strong start to the season, winning 11 of its 13 first games. 

Yet it has all evaporated in a fashion that is now-all-too-familiar to those who have paid attention to Penn State men’s hoops team. In January, Penn State won just two of its nine games. It’s a team sputtering out, searching for its way into the Big Ten Tournament, let alone the NCAA Tournament – a reasonable expectation with this coach and this elder of a roster. 

Rhoades should not have to bear the weight of the sins of Pat Chambers – or even Micah Shrewsberry’s first season on campus, but so little has happened to stymie any of the feelings that are rushing in right around now. 

Of Penn State’s seven losses in January, five have been by six or fewer points. Nothing was more of a hallmark of the Chambers era than being “just a shot” or “just a bounce away.” But just like then, frustrating decisions, untimely turnovers, unused timeouts and late game collapses have plagued recently. 

Even the rally towels on Thursday handed out to fans winked to the purgatory of Penn State men’s basketball. Each seat inside Rec Hall was covered with a “Sweat With Us” towel, a phrase coined by Rhoades in a plea for more support earlier this season. It unintentionally but eerily harkened back to the Chambers era slogan of “Climb With Us” that was plastered here, there and everywhere. By the end of his time Penn State, for one reason or another, the program climbed nowhere.

On the court in Rec Hall — the place where Rhoades had opined he wants to see Penn State play more often because it’s the one place where his team has an advantage inside of Centre County — his team took none of it. Penn State gathered only 23 rebounds to Ohio State’s 31, generated just one steal, scored just 4 second-chance points compared to the Buckeyes’ 18 and lost in uncompetitive fashion, 83-64.

Throughout the night, the Nittany Lions looked to be searching for a spark that it needed to get the game and this season back on course.

They never found it. They never got close.

Now Penn State slumps to the doorstep of February with a 13-9 record on a three-game losing streak and just one win in its last seven. Moreover, it’s a team that is about to limp through the threshold of February with little energy while battling injuries and with momentum nowhere to be found.

Inside February, there’s the promise of “could,” as in “this could turn around,” but it feels like a tall task. After all, “could” is what being a Penn State basketball fan is all about, and very rarely does “could” happen.

If anything, like disappointing efforts at Rec Hall and over-used slogans, right now feels too familiar. 

It feels like February will not matter once again. 

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Darian Somers
Darian Somers is a 2016 graduate of Penn State and co-host of Stuff Somers Says with Steve. You can email Darian at darian@stuffsomerssays.com. Follow Darian on Twitter @StuffSomersSays.

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