Mike Rhoades brings passion, intensity to Rice

By Nicki Chamberlain-Simon and Evan Neustater     4/9/14 10:17am

Every day, Mike Rhoades wears a custom-made black rubber bracelet that says “Lots of love and faith — with no excuses.” Rhoades swears by this motto, and he hopes to bring his philosophy to the Rice University men’s basketball team as the new head coach. 

Every day, Mike Rhoades wears a custom-made black rubber bracelet that says “Lots of love and faith — with no excuses.” Rhoades swears by this motto, and he hopes to bring his philosophy to the Rice University men’s basketball team as the new head coach. 

Rhoades, who was announced as the successor to former Head Coach Ben Braun on March 26, has deep roots in basketball. Rhoades says his love and dedication for the sport began when he was the ball boy for his uncle’s high school basketball team and continued throughout his childhood. 

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“I’d always dribble my basketball,” Rhoades said. “Where I lived, there was a two-mile hill that went outside of my town straight up, and I would run that, dribbling my basketball at the hottest time of the day.”

He went on to be a varsity point guard for three years on his hometown high school team in Pennsylvania, where he earned All-State and All-American honors. Rhoades later began his head-coaching career at Randolph-Macon College at the age of 25. Since then, Rhoades has coached his teams to several appearances in the NCAA tournament, including in 2011, 2012 and 2014, as an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Beyond his experience with basketball, Rhoades also brings a drive to compete. The first image result for a Google search of his name is a picture of Rhoades missing two front teeth after getting elbowed in a scrimmage with his own VCU players. In another demonstration of his dedication, Rhoades completed every task alongside his players when the team hired an ex-Navy Seal to run a mock Seal Team training.   

Rhoades has already made changes within the Rice basketball staff, hiring assistant coaches Scott Pera from the University of Pennsylvania and JD Byers from Radford University. Rhoades said while coaches are important to the team, the student athletes are his main priority.

“The number one thing is the players,” Rhoades said. “I make sure I hire guys that are player-friendly, that want to spend time with the players and that aren’t afraid to sweat with them and work for them.” 

Rhoades said coming to Rice was an ideal situation for himself and his family. He not only gets to pursue his dream of being a Division I head coach, but he also gets to come to a university with a storied academic tradition. Rhoades said Rice’s academics were a major part of why he chose to come to Houston.

“I always wanted to coach at a great academic school that was serious about their athletics [while] never compromising their standards,” Rhoades said. “It’s sort of the way I was raised; my parents were educators. We were always told about being student athletes to the fullest degree, and so I’ve always taken pride in that.”

Rhoades said he wants to bring his unique coaching style, which he learned while assisting at VCU, to Rice. He said his style will create a family atmosphere within the team while also motivating his players to succeed to the best of their ability.

“We want to play fast and go after people like [we did at] VCU,” Rhoades said. “My coaching style is [to] let the guys know I really love them, spend a lot of time with them off the court so they have a family situation here, that they know that we’re here for them as people and not just as players. And then the basketball part is just really pushing them to be the best players that they can be and really teach them.”

Rhoades is coming to Rice on a five-year contract and said he wants to elevate Rice’s status in the college basketball landscape during that time. He acknowledged that the team needs a major turnaround from its 7-23 record this past season, but he said he is still optimistic about the future.  

“In four years, let’s put ourselves in a position where, when we go out for a jump ball, we’re going out there knowing we’re going to win this game, and we’re going to give ourselves the best opportunity to win this game,” Rhoades said. “That comes with a lot of things. In believing in our system, in player development, in efficient recruiting, and then just creating a belief and a buzz on campus, just like football and baseball and some other sports have done. You can be great students and a heck of a basketball team. That’s our plan.”

 

 

 

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