Penn State basketball coach Mike Rhoades has not necessarily had an easy going in his first season with the Nittany Lions. Coming off of what was arguably the program's best season in two decades, former head coach Micah Shrewsberry departed State College to head to South Bend to take over as the head coach at Notre Dame. Enter Rhoades, who spent six seasons as the head coach at VCU, where he led the Rams to six consecutive winning seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

And less than a full season into his tenure in State College, exit Kanye Clary, Rhoades leading scorer on a Penn State team that is currently below .500 and 11th in the standings in the Big Ten.

“It came to a point where, as the head coach, I made a decision to move on, and that's where I'll leave it,” Rhoades told reporters regarding Clary's dismissal during his weekly media availability, according to Mark Wogenrich of Sports Illustrated. “Every decision I make is based on the culture of our program. How we dress, what we put up on the walls, everything, every decision. There’s easier ones and there’s really, really difficult ones. That’s my job. But every decision is made on moving the program forward. But sometimes those decisions are delicate and hard, but they’ve got to be made, too.”

Kanye Clary was used sparsely throughout his freshman year at Penn State, but saw his minutes increase throughout the season. This year, Clary developed into the Nittany Lions leading scorer, averaging nearly 17 points per game on 46 percent shooting. On January 27th, Clary suffered an injury against Minnesota, his 12th consecutive game scoring at least 10 points. Clary missed the next two games, and then saw a drastic dip in both minutes and field goal attempts in his final three games with the program.

Nothing yet has been reported in regards to what brought about Rhoades' decision to remove Kanye Clary from the team, but regardless of what it was that forced Rhoades' hand, the Nittany Lions have a tough road ahead of them.