The RamRoll

VICTORY RHOADE
By Chris Kowalczyk

Mike Rhoades is a basketball man. Just ask him.

“I don’t have hobbies. It’s basketball. It’s my family and basketball, that’s it,” says the father of three, matter-of-factly. “I know sometimes I have to golf. I don’t want to golf. I’ll go play with my kids or play pickup basketball now before I do anything else.”

He’s serious too. For years, date night with his wife Jodie, a former All-American field hockey player, was often dinner, followed by a VCU basketball game.

It’s a mindset that was carved out on the playgrounds of his Pennsylvania hometown as boy, but has followed him throughout an impressive career. Rhoades gave himself to the game, and the game rewarded him. He’s been All-State, an All-American, a National Champion and a Coach of the Year. He was a college head coach at 25. Now, 36, Mike Rhoades has already accomplished more than some do in a lifetime.

However, after 10 successful years as the head coach at nearby Randolph-Macon College, Rhoades decided he was ready for the next step, and jumped at the chance to work as an assistant on Shaka Smart’s staff at VCU.

“I’m always up for the challenge,” Rhoades said. “So if I had the opportunity to move up the ladder, to move on, it’s something that I’d always take into account.”

SMALL TOWN, BIG GAME
Rhoades grew up in Mahanoy City, Pa., a consummate American small town. Home to roughly 5,000 residents, Mahanoy is located in the coal region of Pennsylvania, some 50 miles northwest of Reading. It’s a one-half square mile old-school, blue-collar oasis.

Mike was the youngest of three children to Jim and Mary Rhoades. Jim was a former middle-school principal and high school football coach-turned state senator. Mary taught high school English for 32 years. By no coincidence, education and hard work were valued over everything else, but athletics also held an important place.

Football, baseball and track and field all had their day for Mike Rhoades, but basketball consumed him. It wasn’t long before he was spending his spare time at the playground, or sneaking into gyms to play basketball. During the summer, he’d wake up and head to the playground across the street from his grandparents house. He’d stay there all day, breaking only for a short lunch with “gram and granddad.”

“You just earn it,” Rhoades says. “Where I grew up, I learned my work ethic from my family, from the people in my area. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you either can do the job or you can’t, and I’ve always been like that, about outworking everybody else and doing it the right way.”

By the time he was a sophomore in high school, the other sports had fallen by the wayside. It was basketball, period. Playing for his uncle, Mick Holland at Mahanoy Area High School, Rhoades’ work was paying off. His senior year, Rhoades capped an outstanding career with an appearance in the regional final and an All-State selection.

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
Rhoades drew varying recruiting interest from schools at each level, but it was Division III Lebanon Valley College, about an hour south on Route 81, and Head Coach Pat Flannery that caught his eye.

“I was around kids like me and we just had a great family atmosphere,” Rhoades said.

 As much as Rhoades liked Lebanon Valley, Lebanon Valley probably liked him more. A 6-0 guard, Rhoades spent four years rewriting the school’s record books.

The Flying Dutchmen won 17 games in Rhoades’ freshman year and 18 in his sophomore campaign, which included an NCAA second round berth. In 1993-94, Rhoades junior season, Lebanon Valley defeated NYU in the 1994 Division III National Championship. Rhoades led the way, scoring 33 points in a come-from-behind semifinal win over Wittenberg. The following night, in the championship, he scored seven of LVC’s 11 points in overtime to lead them to a 66-59 win.

"I had Mike in a camp at Drexel when he was about eight or nine, and he got in to a fight with my nephew. I knew I was going to have to throw one kid out of camp, and although I got my sister mad, I picked the right guy," joked Flannery.

However, the following season, Flannery left to coach at Bucknell. Brad McAlester took over and led the Dutchmen to a 23-win season. Rhoades was named National Player of the Year and an All-American, but Lebanon Valley was upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Rhoades, who later had his No. 5 jersey retired by the school, departed Lebanon Valley as the school’s first 2,000-point scorer (2,050), as well as its all-time leader in assists (668), steals (212) and free throw percentage (84.5). All those hours on the playground sure do pay off.

FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A YELLOW JACKET
Rhoades graduated from Lebanon Valley in 1995 with a degree in history and promptly went to work on his basketball career.

In the summer of 1995, he was invited to the Phoenix Suns summer camp, but NBA owners locked out the players in July. Rhoades took his ball went to France for what he calls, “a brief stint,” before he was let go. Rhoades worked as a substitute teacher and aimed for another shot at the pros, but a broken ankle that February convinced him it was time to move into coaching.

In May of 1996, Rhoades interviewed for and accepted a position under Hal Nunnally at Division III Randolph-Macon in Ashland, Va.

Rhoades spent three successful years under Nunnally, but in March of 1999, the longtime coach had to retire due to a myriad of health problems. Nunnally went to the school’s president and recommended Rhoades, who would agree to take over the storied Yellow Jackets’ program before his 26th birthday.

“That was the question, is he ready,” Rhoades said of his hire. “But when I was 20 years old as a junior in college, I was sitting in the office with Coach (Pat) Flannery watching tape. In the summer, my summer job was basketball camps. I’ve never had a real job to this day. So, I thought I was ready. I knew what I needed to do.”

Apparently, Rhoades was right.

In 10 seasons, the Yellow Jackets were 197-76 and made four NCAA Tournament appearances. During the 2002-03 season, Randolph-Macon grabbed the nation’s No. 1 ranking for several weeks, captured the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. Rhoades was named ODAC Coach of the Year, his third such honor, as well as NABC South District Coach of the Year and State Coach of the Year by the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

"The qualities that Mike possessed as a player lend themselves well to coaching,” says Flannery. “Mike could have gone out and got 40 points every night, but there’s night’s he’d go out and get 15 assists, or that he’d be the best defensive player on the floor. He learned the game right and he knows what it’s about.”

How did a 26-year old guy with three just three seasons of coaching experience under his belt achieve so much? With players that are willing to outwork everybody else.

“Of course you always have to see the talent,” Rhoades said. “But I also want that kid that has an edge, that’s very competitive, hates to lose, but knows how to handle it. I just think, if kids aren’t afraid to compete and have that edge about being successful, they’ll find a way. I love tough kids.”

THE SENATOR’S SON
In his final season in 2008-09, Randolph-Macon finished 20-6, his sixth 20-win campaign. As successful as that season was, it was the most difficult he’s had to endure.

On October 17, 2008 his mother and father were driving to a high school football game at Pleasant Valley High School in Pennsylvania. Jim, who was in his 28th year in the state senate, was going to be honored after helping to secure money to renovate the football stadium at the school.

But they never got there. Their car was struck head-on by a drunk driver. Jim Rhoades died the next in the hospital. Mary Rhoades was injured seriously, but survived the crash.  

As he struggled with the tragedy, Mike Rhoades continually went back to his father’s lessons to help him move forward.

“As awful as it was, that’s what life threw at us,” Mike said. “We’re upset, but we don’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’re not going to make excuses. We’re going to do what’s expected of us, which is working hard at what we do and keep doing it the right way.”

Coincidentally, since absentee ballots had already been mailed, Jim Rhoades’ name could not be removed from the ballot. In a final nod to a beloved man who served the 29th district for nearly 30 years, Jim Rhoades was posthumously elected for an eighth term weeks later. A special election was held for his vacated seat. 

THE RHOADE AHEAD
When Shaka Smart was named head coach at VCU April 2, Rhoades offered to help the former Florida and Clemson assistant get familiar with his new Virginia surroundings.

Smart and Rhoades didn’t know each other well, but their reputations preceded them. Boston Celtics Assistant Coach Kevin Eastman, a former Richmond and VCU assistant with strong local ties, is an acquaintance of both men, and suggested Smart give Rhoades a look.

“Mike’s intense and he has a toughness about him that belies his kind and caring personality,” Smart said. “He has an intensity on the floor that in some ways reminds me of Billy Donovan’s. I really value that, because let’s face it, if we want our players to be intense and competitive and tough, then we have to be that way too.”

Rhoades lives just 20 minutes away from VCU, but his first meeting with Smart came in Detroit, at the Final Four. Just days later, Rhoades accepted an offer to join Smart’s staff.

“I’ve had some opportunities the last few years, heck, the last 10 years, and I bit on this one,” Rhoades said. “I think it was time. At this point in my career, it was time to follow through in my career with something I wanted to do.”

Much like the players had to transition from one coaching staff to another, Rhoades was adjusting from Division III to Division I. But each party found their way quickly.

“Kids want to be coached,” Rhoades said. “People say things about the kids of today, I don’t buy any of it. These guys at VCU, they want to win. You can tell the program is bigger than any individual. They want to be successful.”

When he accepted his VCU post, Rhoades became a college-basketball rarity, a coach who changed jobs and didn’t have to move his family or sell his house. The only question now is, where does that leave VCU Basketball games in the Rhoades household?

“I guess it’s not date night anymore,” Mike said.

Questions or comments? Contact Chris Kowalczyk at aroundthehorns@yahoo.com