Upsetting Louisville in 1999, beating Duke in 2007 and the Final Four run in 2011 are all milestones in the history of VCU basketball. Today’s celebration was right up there as Director of Athletics, Ed McLaughlin, introduced Mike Rhoades as VCU men’s basketball 12th head coach.
Coach Rhoades and his family received a warm and emotional welcome from Ram Nation as he took to the stage to give an introductory speech that had any fan in attendance ready to run through a brick wall for him and the team.
Rhoades was an assistant under Shaka Smart from 2009 – 2014. After spending the last three seasons at Rice University, in Houston, coach came back to see his “dream come true” as he became VCU’s men’s basketball head coach.
Coach is familiar with basketball in Central Virginia as he was the head coach at Randolph Macon College from 1999 – 2009. He led the team to 4 straight conference titles (Old Dominion Athletic Conference).
This was, hands down, the most spirited VCU basketball event that did not involve any basketball. The reception from Ram Nation at the Siegel Center says, that if we aren’t still playing meaningful games in the month of March, we cannot think of any thing else we would rather be doing than welcoming Mike Rhoades and his family back to Richmond, Virginia.
