Penn State Honors Mike Rhoades with Schuylkill County Day vs. Bucknell

Penn State Men’s Basketball released its promotional schedule for the 2023-24 season on Tuesday and an interesting date appears on the calendar.

The home game against Bucknell University on Saturday, Dec. 2, has officially been listed as Schuylkill County Day.

Penn State is promoting Schuylkill County Day on the basketball schedule this year as a nod to its new Head Coach Mike Rhoades, a Mahanoy City native and local basketball legend.

Rhoades signed on with the Nittany Lions after a successful stint as the head man at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The game on Dec. 2 (Schuylkill County Day) against Bucknell begins at noon at Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

According to Chelsea Vielhauer in the PSU Strategic Communications office, Penn State will be offering local residents, businesses, and schools, ticket promotions ahead of the game.

A special promo code will be available to local fans in the weeks ahead.

Schuylkill County Ties to PSU and Bucknell Basketball

It’s fitting that the Nittany Lions would have the game against Bucknell as Schuylkill County Day. Both schools now share a history with ties locally.

Bucknell rose to fame on the men’s basketball scene nearly 20 years ago under the leadership of Pottsville native and head coach Pat Flannery.

Flannery coached the Bison from 1994-2008 and amassed the second-most wins (234) in the school’s history. He was thrice named Patriot League Coach of the Year (1995, 1997, 2006).

He grew that program to some national prominence when he led the #14 Bison to a remarkable upset of #3 Kansas in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Bucknell would lose the second-round game against #6 Wisconsin.

The following year, Bucknell again earned a spot in the tournament, ranked #9 this time. And again, the Bison were able to pull off an upset over #8 Arkansas before falling in the second round to top-ranked Memphis.

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