New Penn State basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry tackles numerous topics during introduction

UNIVERSITY PARK — New Penn State men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry was officially introduced Tuesday afternoon with a virtual news conference from the Bryce Jordan Center.

Shrewsberry, the former associate head coach at Purdue who also served as an assistant in the NBA with the Celtics, fielded a variety of questions that touched on a number of topics.

Shrewsberry faces a tough task with Penn State in the Big Ten. Penn State hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2011 — though the team was poised to qualify before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sport last March — and the 44-year-old could be in for a difficult rebuild with five players currently in the transfer portal.

But Shrewsberry brings an impressive resume with time spent working for Brad Stevens at Butler and in Boston and Matt Painter at Purdue. Shrewsberry had extensive responsibilities under each coach that could translate into his first major head coaching job.

Time will tell whether Shrewsberry was the right hire for Penn State. On Tuesday, though, he was thorough and excited in laying out his vision for the program. Here are some takeaways from what he said:

• Shrewsberry wants the Penn State players in the transfer portal to return.

In the aftermath of Shrewsberry’s hiring, six Penn State players entered the transfer portal. Last week, guard Izaiah Brockington, the team’s second-leading scorer last season, announced he would return to the Lions. Over the weekend, guard Myreon Jones, the team’s leading scorer, announced he would not return. That leaves four players with their futures up in the air.

Shrewsberry wouldn’t comment specifically on the players in the transfer portal, but he highlighted that “this is a unique time in college basketball” with the number of players who could potentially be on the move. And he reiterated a similar sentiment that he espoused on the radio last week: He wants the players to return, but he knows he has the opportunity to add to his roster through the transfer portal, too.

“I’ve talked to every single one of the guys that have entered, and we are actively trying to get them back,” Shrewsberry said. “We’re talking about them, we’re talking to them, we’re having conversations face-to-face, over Zoom, on FaceTime.

“But we are actively recruiting as well. And my goal is to have a great team in place when it’s time to tip off next season. And that’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we’re striving to do.

“There are a lot of great players that are out there. We want our own, but we also want guys that are two feet in for Penn State, that bleed Penn State, that believe in this, that believe in our vision. And when we have that group, we’re going to have a special group and we’re going to do some fun things together.”

• Shrewsberry wants Penn State to keep the edge it played with last season.

Despite its 11-14 final record, Penn State was not an easy out in the Big Ten in 2020-21. The players were playing in adverse circumstances, with interim coach Jim Ferry taking over for Patrick Chambers in October after an investigation into Chambers’ conduct. The Lions, though, rallied around each other.

From the opposing bench with Purdue, Shrewsberry was impressed with what he saw, and he wants the team to be able to channel that energy again with him at the helm.

“I have much respect for the guys that played last season and how hard they played every single night out,” Shrewsberry said. “And this season was hard. It was under tough circumstances with covid and everything else. But they gave their all for Penn State, and I’m going to give my all for those guys. I appreciate every bit of it, but we’re going to keep that underdog mentality. We’re going to keep that chip on our shoulder mentality, and I think you succeed in that way.”

• Shrewsberry laid out the most important lessons he learned from Stevens and Painter.

Much has been made about Shrewsberry’s time working under Stevens and Painter, two prominent coaches who have been able to sustain their success. On Tuesday, Shrewsberry was asked what the most important lessons he learned from each coach were.

On Stevens: “His detail in his approach to preparation. He’s one of the best I’ve been around. There’s no stone unturned when he is preparing for a game, when he is preparing for practice, when he is preparing for a season. Working with him, there’s questions that come up in a film session and you would think it’s the oddest thing. … And then it happens in the game. It’s almost like he has this sixth sense of what situations are going to come up. But his preparation, being able to go through everything and not leave anything, any stone unturned to prepare your team for any situation that comes up as well I learned from him.”

• Shrewsberry hasn’t decided how he’ll structure his staff yet.

Shrewsberry has hired associate head coach Adam Fisher, but the rest of the staff has yet to take shape. Shrewsberry isn’t sure what the specific roles will be when it’s complete, either. At Purdue, Shrewsberry was the offensive coordinator and took the lead in that space, but it remains to be seen whether that will be the case at Penn State.