Penn State will take part in the ‘Mike Rhoades Classic’ again at some point.
Just not this season.
Per a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstien, PSU and VCU will not play in 2024-25.
Source: VCU and Penn State will not play during the 2024-25 season.
The Nittany Lions still must play the Rams once in Richmond as part of Mike Rhoades' buyout from VCU.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 12, 2024
PSU is the school Rhoades currently coaches, and this will be his second season.
Before that, he was the boss at VCU for six seasons.
When Rhoades left Richmond for Happy Valley, part of his buyout included a home-and-home series with VCU.
Penn State and VCU did play last season but it was on a neutral site. At the ESPN events invitational three days after Thanksgiving, VCU beat Penn State 86-74.
PSU does have a few games announced for its 2024-25 schedule.
Although VCU won’t be an opponent, Penn State is scheduled to play a Virginia team in the DMV area, taking on Virginia Tech Nov. 15 in Baltimore.
Also in November, PSU will again take part in a Thanksgiving-week tournament in Florida, with this one being the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach. PSU will be in the “Beach Bracket” along with Clemson, Fordham and San Francisco. The tournament also has an “Ocean Bracket” that consists of Chicago State, Drexel, Purdue Ft. Wayne and Radford.
PSU will also reportedly be facing some in-state opponents, with Penn scheduled to come to the Bryce Jordan Center Dec. 29 and PSU reportedly playing Drexel Dec. 21 in Philly.
PSU is also set to play Buffalo Dec. 1, per Rothstein.
PSU is 1-1 lifetime against VCU, with the win coming over Rhoades in the 2020-21 season. Under interim coach Jim Ferry, Penn State beat VCU, 72-69. Myles Dread won the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.































