Penn State men’s basketball adds 2 more to Micah Shrewsberry’s staff

STATE COLLEGE — The Penn State men’s basketball team filled out new coach Micah Shrewsberry’s first staff with the Lions on Monday with the addition of two more staffers.

Penn State hired Tre Whitted as assistant to the head coach and Grady Eifert as video coordinator. Both men have ties to Shrewsberry from previous stops in his coaching career.

Whitted replaces former Lions star Talor Battle in the assistant to the head coach role. Battle left State College last month to take an assistant coaching job at Northwestern.

Excited to welcome Tre Whitted and Grady Eifert to Happy Valley!

?: https://t.co/YnMNXKrSAW#WeAre pic.twitter.com/tw9kUUUNgi

— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) June 14, 2021

Whitted was most recently the coach of the high school boys and high school girls travel teams with 3 Step Sports’ Blue Wave Basketball Academy, and he was the lead skill development coach and lead camp and skills clinic instructor. His player development background also features a stint as the president and CEO of Groundwork Player Development and three years as a skills trainer with Blizzard Athletics.

Whitted’s connection to Shrewsberry dates back to Shrewsberry’s time as director of basketball operations at Marshall in the early 2000s. Current Lions assistant Aki Collins was also an assistant coach on that Marshall staff. Whitted was a four-year starter and three-time captain for the Thundering Herd. He played professionally in the NBA G League and the Premier Basketball League.

“Loyalty is a huge deal for me and I tried to reflect that in the way I put together our staff,” Shrewsberry said in a release. “I’m thrilled to have Tre joining us. I coached him when he was a player at Marshall and am now looking forward to the great experience of working with him. The basketball knowledge that he has gained throughout his career will be very beneficial for our program. On top of that, he is a great person who our players and recruits will enjoy getting to know.”

?️ @Coach_Shrews on adding former @nbagleague assistant coach & professional player Tre Whitted to his staff ⬇️#WeAre pic.twitter.com/05jHHlffHf

— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) June 14, 2021

Whitted also spent 2019-20 as an assistant coach for the Maine Red Claws in the G League, and he was a guest coach with the Boston Celtics during training camp in 2019. Shrewsberry worked extensively under Celtics coach Brad Stevens at Butler and with the Celtics.

“I’m extremely honored to be a part of such an incredible staff that is being led by Coach Shrewsberry, someone I’ve known since I was 18 years old,” Whitted said in a release. “He is a great coach and an even better person. I look forward to being of service to our coaches, the community of State College, and playing a role in developing the student-athletes in our program.”

While Whitted’s connection to Shrewsberry dates back almost two decades, Eifert’s is more recent. Eifert comes to the Lions after spending the past two seasons as a graduate assistant at Purdue, where Shrewsberry was the top assistant on coach Matt Painter’s staff.

Eifert played four seasons as Purdue and advanced from a walk-on in 2015-16 to a player who started all 36 games for an Elite Eight team as a senior in 2018-19. Eifert averaged 2.8 points per game in 99 career appearances for the Boilermakers.

“I am very thankful to be joining Coach Shrewsberry and his staff at Penn State,” Eifert said in a release. “Spending the last six years at Purdue, four as a player and two as a graduate assistant, has been an unbelievable experience with memories I will always cherish. I want to personally thank Coach Painter for everything he has done for me and jump starting my coaching career. I cannot wait to get to work for Coach Shrewsberry. His passion, poise and incredible knowledge for the game is unmatched. I am excited to be a part of his team and joining the Penn State family.”

“I’ve had a chance to work with Grady the last two seasons at Purdue,” Shrewsberry said in a release. “He was very influential in helping me learn our system and help put our guys in the right positions to be successful. He played a key role in Purdue’s success as a student-athlete, so he knows what it takes to win in our league. That knowledge will be critical as we try to compete for Big Ten championships.”