Welcome to the first part of our “meet the 2025-26 Penn State men’s basketball coaching staff” series. There are six Penn State Men’s Basketball coaches and one general manager who will be introduced in these two articles, all are involved with the day to day operations of the 2025-2026 basketball program.ย This article will highlight the first three coaches.
Head Coach Mike Rhoades
First up is head coach Mike Rhoades from Mahanoy City, PA. Rhoades is a former All-American and National Player of the Year during his playing days at Lebanon Valley College of Pa. After graduating in 1995, he soon started his coaching career as an assistant coach for Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. In three years, Rhoades became the head coach for the Yellow Jackets at the young age of 25. After a decade of success at Randolph-Macon, Rhoades landed in Richmond, Va. as an assistant coach and associate head coach for Virginia Commonwealth. Helping to guide VCU to the NCAA Tournament four times and leading the Rams to a historic Final Four appearance, Rhoades was hired as the head coach for Rice University in Houston, Texas. Turning the program into a winning, competitive program during his three years at Rice, Rhoades went back to Richmond only now as the head coach for the VCU Rams. After six seasons with post-season success, seeing several of his players sign to an NBA team, and being named as a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award, Rhoades took his coaching success to State College. Already making splashes in the Big Ten with huge upset victories, recruiting talent from all over the world and getting his players drafted in the NBA, Rhoades begins his third season at the helm for Penn State.
Associate Head Coach Jamal Brunt
Up second is Associate Head Coach Jamal Brunt. The Baltimore native came to Happy Valley from VCU and Randolph-Macon as well, where he was Mike Rhoades’ assistant at both schools. He also had successful coaching stints at Miami University and Richmond University as an assistant coach and as an elite recruiter . This past year, Brunt helped engineer the Nittany Lions to two wins over top-15 nationally ranked teams, helped PSU’s defense finish the season ranking second in the Big Ten in steals, and third in creating turnovers. Brunt was also very instrumental in mentoring former standout Ace Baldwin, Jr. and helping to land a top-26 recruiting class for the Class of 2028. Brunt also enters his third season at Penn State.
Assistant Coach Brent “Big B.” Scott
Third, is Brent “Big B.” Scott. Coach Scott enters his third season as PSU’s assistant coach. He also served under Rhoades during all the success at VCU and Rice. Scott played professional ball for 14 years before his coaching career began that also involved stints with Power Five schools TCU and LSU. In charge of post player development throughout his coaching tenure, Scott just saw one of his previous big men get drafted #30 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in this year’s NBA Draft, Yanic Konan Niederhauser.
Stay tuned to Nittany Sports Now for the rest of the breakdown of Penn State’s basketball coaches. Part 2 will highlight the other 3 assistant coaches along with Penn State’s new general manager. They are coaches Talor Battle, Joe Crispin, Clay Conner and new General Manager Scott Pera.
