Penn State Basketball: Can Nittany Lions make 2023 NCAA Tournament?

Micah Shrewsberry is making shrewd moves in the transfer portal. Can he take Penn State Basketball to the Big Dance in his second year?

Penn State Basketball was not as far removed from the NCAA Tournament last year as their losing record might suggest. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry is making sure the team is even closer in 2022-23.

Shrewsberry is having a banner time with the transfer portal, recently securing the commitments of guards Andrew Funk and Camren Wynter. They were two of the top transfers remaining and should make an immediate impact in Happy Valley.

Funk averaged 17.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists for Bucknell last season, hitting 36.3 percent of his three-pointers. He earned second-team All-Patriot League honors for his campaign.

Funk should be able to build on his shooting from a year ago and approach 40 percent during the upcoming season. He’s likely to be the first or second player off the bench, as the roster stands, but could carve out a larger role with the team.

Wynter is even better, averaging 15.8 points, and 5.3 rebounds. and 4.6 assists per game for Drexel. He has been dominated the CAA for three years, earning a first-team All-CAA selection this past season.

Neither player will be a long-term option for the Nittany Lions – they both have only one year of eligibility left.

The arrival of the transfers also appears to set the team’s roster for the 2022-23 season, as the team has hit 13 scholarship players on the depth chart.

The new guards will replace some of the production that departed with Sam Sessoms, who is reportedly transferring to Coppin State. The guard averaged 11.6 points per game last season and hit 42 percent from three.

The prominent guards could help turn around an unfortunate trend for the Nittany Lions, who finished three games below .500 last season. While the record was bad, the compete level was strong for the team, who lost by six points or less in 9 of 17 losses. A little bit of luck or late-game success the other direction could’ve turned them into an NIT contender.

Penn State is also expected to bring back at least two major players from last year’s squad, Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy. All of the pieces together and starts to sound like a promising grouping for the program.

With all that being said, is it enough to break through and make the NCAA Tournament next year? It just might be for a team that hasn’t made March Madness since 2011.

In addition to the core four, Myles Dread will be back and Evan Mahaffey will push to make an immediate impact at the forward position as a freshman. Dallion Johnson and Jameel Brown should also provide solid depth at guard.

One of the team’s biggest weaknesses comes at the center position, where the Nittany Lions are short on experienced depth after the losses of John Harrar and Greg Lee, a problem in a league that likes to bang around a lot. But every team has one or two obstacles they need to overcome to make the postseason.

Penn State’s core likely wouldn’t be considered elite, but it’s more serviceable than they’ve had in some time. It’s definitely a group that could push for the postseason.

Nevertheless, the pieces are in place for Penn State to make its first NCAA Tournament in more than a decade. That alone might make giving Micah Shrewsberry a lifelong contract a necessity.