Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions emerging as a 2021-22 offseason winner

Brand new coaching staff

The successful roster moves can, obviously, be traced back to Shrewsberry and his coaching staff – one that features a few returning faces from the Chambers/Ferry era, as well as a handful of newcomers whose previous successes indicate a bright future for the Nittany Lions.

Shrewsberry himself is a question mark, considering the 44-year old has had no prior Div. I coaching experience – his lone head coaching gig came at IU South Bend from 2005-07 – but he has built himself an impressive pedigree as an assistant.

After brief, career-beginning stops at Wabash, DePauw, and Marshall, in addition to his time at South Bend, Shrewsberry made a name for himself after joining Brad Stevens and Butler in 2008, where a three-year stint yielded the Bulldogs’ back-to-back National Championship game appearances, an 87-21 overall record, and the development of Gordon Hayward.

Shrewsberry has alternated between mentors since then, having moved in-state to Purdue from 2011-2013, where he helped Matt Painter’s Boilermakers to lead the nation in fewest turnovers per game with 8.74 in 2011-12 – before following Stevens to the Boston Celtics from 2013-18, where he helped guide them to a 221-189 record and two Eastern Conference Finals.  In addition to having the opportunity to continue coaching Hayward, Shrewsberry was pivotal in the flourishment of No. 3 picks Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

Since leaving Boston, Shrewsberry has spent the last two seasons back at Purdue, serving as Painter’s associate head coach and helping lead a turnaround from a team that finished sub-500 in the Big Ten in 2019-20 to a Boilermaker squad that exceeded preseason expectations, reached the NCAA Tournament, and finished fourth in the Big Ten in 2020-21.

The team’s offensive coordinator, Shrewsberry continued showcasing his talent of developing players, this time continuing Trevion Williams’ All-Big Ten-caliber career, while helping both Zach Edey and Jaden Ivey earn All-Freshman Team honors.

But Shrewsberry is not the lone Nittany Lion on the sidelines with a well-established and distinguished pedigree.  His new associate head coach, Adam Fisher – a 2006 Penn State alumnus and former video coordinator and director of player development position there – has spent the last eight seasons in Miami, assisting Jim Larranaga and being an integral part of the Hurricanes’ four-straight 20-win seasons and postseason appearances between 2014 and 2018.  In addition, Fisher helped land back-to-back top-15 recruiting classes in 2016-17 and 2017-18 – the latter of which featured Lonnie Walker IV of the San Antonio Spurs.

Shrewsberry’s staff has been rounded out by a number of proven assistants and unusual, but intriguing, hires.  David “Aki” Collins joins Penn State after an illustrious 20-year career different stops, which most recently included a year-long stint at New Mexico – as well as five seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder as an amateur scout, three years at Memphis, and four at Marquette.

Mike Farrelly, meanwhile, comes to Penn State after serving as the interim head coach at Hofstra, having taken over for legendary head coach Joe Mihalich, who Farrelly spent eight years under with the Pride.

Both Talor Battle, Penn State’s all-time leading scorer, and Nick Colella are both slated to return to the sidelines, the lone remnants from Ferry’s lone year as head coach.  Rounding out the current coaching staff and new names are Mike Green – a former star at Towson and Butler, who will serve as director of player development – and Brian Snow, one of the most well-renowned recruiting analysts in the country, having most recently worked for 247Sports and CBSSports, and will now join PSU as the director of recruiting.

Shrewsberry’s hiring of Snow may be the biggest indicator that the Nittany Lions will be a unique and intriguing team to follow in the coming months and years, given this is Snow’s first-ever coaching position.  Pairing that with this being Shrewsberry’s first Div. I head coaching position, and Penn State may be one of the most unusual and fascinating teams to watch.

Again, the Nittany Lions may not have the talent to compete for the Big Ten title, particularly with teams like Michigan, Ohio State, and Purdue all maintaining potential top-ten squads – but the beginning of the Micah Shrewsberry era has gotten off to an interesting and oddly successful note, despite the departures.  With Pickett and Cornwall on board, Penn State should continue being a thorn in the Big Ten – and potentially even creep into the NCAA Tournament.