Some Penn State fans probably look at the latest men’s basketball team victory — an honestly not unexpected 87-83 upset of 11th-ranked Wisconsin — as more than just an entertaining W, more than just one basketball game.
Maybe it’s a benchmark, a proof of concept, a signature victory, a storm-the-floor starting point toward success.
Maybe. But maybe it’s just one game, too.
If Penn State fans have learned anything through the years it’s that men’s basketball success does not come quickly, without fits and starts, or maybe even at all.
Any success follows an often-tenuous timeline. Luckily, it’s not a 12-step program, but there are almost always clear steps.
Maybe the victory over Wisconsin accelerated things a bit, but the steps seem necessary and solid. That means more losses will follow the hot-shooting home victory, and going from turnover to triumph probably will not happen just because of 40 minutes of on-court action.
Still, in case you’ve somehow never experienced this before, here’s a look at the timeline:
Turnover
It’s not a lose-the-ball kind of turnover, but turnover at the top of the organization.
Coach Mike Rhoades was named to lead the Penn State program on March 29, 2023. A Pennsylvania native with national championship credentials (a Division III title with Lebanon Valley College in 1994) and proven success most recently at VCU (three visits to the NCAA Tournament), he came with right-man-at-the-right-time vibes.
Few turnovers at the top of Penn State’s program have been well timed, but this search process seemed to move smoothly. Rhoades then imported a decent part of his staff from VCU, added former Penn State standout Joe Crispin as assistant to the head coach and proceeded to put together the team’s 17-person coaching and support staff. Yes, 17 … or at least those are the ones that get acknowledged on the website.
So far, Rhoades has touched most of the right notes and, best of all, he has not asked fans to climb anything. He just seems interested in winning games, and that’s good because that’s the job.
Team
For better, or mostly worse, Penn State teams have often seemingly been led by one player, one standout with just not enough support to consistently carry the team on his back.
When there has been more athleticism and depth, more victories have followed.
This group, 10 months into the coach’s tenure, might have more athleticism or depth than any other in that same timeframe.
That’s a good thing. When the team plays well, it’s fast-paced and fun to watch.
At the same time, the necessary “Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” approach of cobbling together a roster has hampered the team at times through its first 18 games. It’s a lot harder to build consistency, continuity and a culture that quickly.
Talent overcomes a lot, but poor shooting can cascade and impact communication and effort when a team is not always on the same page, and that’s been evident at times this season as well.
Tease
It seems like Penn State gets a W like that one against Wisconsin every few seasons — the last one against a Top 15 opponent came in 2021 against the Badgers, also at home in the Bryce Jordan Center — and that’s a testament to the balance in college basketball, the rigors of playing on the road, and Penn State’s progress and talent.
One mid-season victory rarely flips a switch completely toward success, though. So it was a tease — a look at what Penn State can be when it plays well and does so against the right opponent.
There will be more to come. That’s a good thing.
There will also be more losses to come. That’s an expected thing.
The tease provides important juice and optimism for fans and players alike, though, so that moment the other night was important. It might not be program- or season-altering, but it’s certainly a positive.
Tone
Of course at this point the tone, driven by media covering the team, is exclusively positive.
College basketball coaches get nice long honeymoons and we’re in the midst of that in Happy Valley.
With limited expectations the first season, there’s no reason to be hard on Rhoades, and the media covering Penn State men’s basketball have long cared more about the team’s success than many in the athletic department anyway. So there’s no reason to be critical when things are on an upward trajectory.
Plus, even after a loss, even when they were dominated as they were last weekend at Purdue, the context setting, especially from in-house folks, focuses on the fact that Rhoades and Co. will be successful and what happened was just part of the development and, well, there’s nothing to see here.
Really the only hiccups in the ever-positive tone, and even they’ve been muted so far this season, are perennial gripes from Penn State folks about officiating and scheduling by the Big Ten. If those are ever the program’s worst problems, well, that would be a golden era for the program. Plus, at some point, you just have to choose not to whine and step on the floor and beat the other team. It’s a lot like the silly football gripe about starting conference play on the road.
Triumph
This phase, not seen often, might not be far away. And, honestly, with Penn State having been an NCAA Tournament-caliber team under its last two coaches, the program is actually not far from consistent success, it seems.
If Rhoades gets Penn State to the tournament, it would be easy to make the argument that each of the program’s last three coaches had led the Nittany Lions to that level. (Now, that’s if you count the pandemic impacted season when the NCAA Tournament was not played — and it’s my belief there should be no banner because there was no tournament, no need to make up history — but three coaches would clearly have had that kind of success here during their tenure.)
If that’s the case, then Penn State might be tiptoeing toward the line of becoming a basketball school — and that would certainly be something. At worst a semi-decent basketball school. (At that point, students might not need free tickets or social media urgings from the coach to stand during games. Or at least one can hope.)
Of course, in typical Penn State basketball fashion, nothing comes easily. So, any level success this season, especially in the new NIL world, just means additional success will be more costly.
After all, with players playing well, the program would then need to worry about retention — finding ways to keep players form jumping ship or financial reasons. In fact, there was a meeting with administrators and boosters about that typic and raising more money when the team played in New York City earlier this season.
That’s another story for another day, though. For now, the tease against Wisconsin seems to have nudged up the timeline a bit — and that’s probably a good thing.
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