Heading Home; Micah Shrewsberry leaves Penn State for Notre Dame
After months of rumors, Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry is heading back to his home state of Indiana, becoming the next head coach of Notre Dame.
Shrewsberry coached a majority of his career in the state, with his first head coaching position at Indiana University South Bend.
Shrewsberry led the Nittany Lions for two seasons, with an overall record of 37-31 in University Park. Shrewsberry improved his record immensely in his second season, going from a .451 win percentage in 2021-22 to a .622 win percentage in 2022-23.
The former Nittany Lion coach was able to build a culture with the motto, “Gritty Not Pretty,” while keeping some Nittany Lions players that were brought in by previous coach Patrick Chambers.
Veterans John Harrar, Seth Lundy and Myles Dread all stayed after the change, and helped build a winning culture with Shrewsberry.
The three veterans helped Shrewsberry take control of the locker room, and coach a veteran team. He was also able to develop Seth Lundy into an NBA prospect, who looks like a potential second round pick in this season’s NBA Draft.
Shrewsberry also relentlessly hit the transfer portal, adding many impact players to the roster.
Guard Jalen Pickett was brought in by Shrewsberry as one of his first moves, and was able to develop him into an All-American guard at Penn State.
Pickett helped spearline a huge run for Penn State that put them in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years.
Shrewsberry was also able to bring in other transfers like Camren Wynter, Andrew Funk and Michael Henn, who were also able to be key contributors for Penn State in their runs in the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament.
Along with the veterans, Shrewsberry was able to recruit at the highest level, bringing in Penn State’s top recruiting class in school history in 2022.
Impact players like Kebba Njie, Evan Mahaffey and Kanye Clary were able to make huge strides on the NCAA Tournament team, as well as talented prospects like Jameel Brown and Demetrius Lilley developing in limited time during the year.
With all of that, Shrewsberrry will now be looking to build more success for himself in South Bend, building off of Mike Brey’s long career with Notre Dame.
Penn State and Athletic Director Patrick Kraft will hit the coaching search and look to bring in another strong candidate to continue to build on Shrewsberry’s success.
Kraft will have to make his first huge move, as he will look to continue to build a competitive basketball program with the hire of their next head coach.
Adam Sheetz is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ads360@psu.edu.
