Mike Rhoades agrees to deal as Penn State men’s basketball coach

VCU’s Mike Rhoades has agreed terms to become the next men’s basketball coach at Penn State, sources told ESPN.

According to sources, Rhoades has called a meeting for Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET to update the VCU team on his decision.

Rhoades and Penn State had intense talks earlier Wednesday but were awaiting university council approval to finalize his contract, sources said.

Rhoades has continued the recent tradition of consistent success at VCU, widely regarded as the best job in the Atlantic 10. The Rams have reached the NCAA tournament in three of the last four years the event has been held, and Rhoades is 129-61 in six seasons at VCU.

Rhoades would replace Micah Shrewsberry, who has gone to Notre Dame and will be officially unveiled on Thursday. Shrewsberry led Penn State to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011 and the school’s first tournament win since 2001.

Rhoades’ hiring would be significant given that he has reached as many NCAA tournaments at VCU in the past four years as Penn State has in the past two decades. The risk for Rhoades is that he will leave a job in high-end basketball for a job at Penn State, which is considered one of the bottom positions in the Big Ten.

Rhoades earned nearly $1.7 million at VCU and is expected to nearly double that at Penn State. It would be another big hire for the Big Ten, which along with the SEC has benefited from lucrative television deals in recent years.

Prior to VCU, Rhoades worked as a head coach at Rice for three years, where he won 23-12 in his final season before being hired by the Rams. It was a return to VCU for Rhoades, who was assistant head coach there under Shaka Smart from 2009 to 2014.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello contributed to this report.