Penn State Basketball: 12 candidates to replace Micah Shrewsberry as head coach

Keith Urgo

Our third consecutive A-10 head coach might be the most sensible hire of the bunch, though he might also be the unlikeliest name as well. The Nittany Lions want to bring in someone who can continue to win games for Penn State, though that new head coach will have to rebuild this roster and compete in a very talented Big Ten. Urgo has plenty of experience in the power conferences, and it’s his time with the Nittany Lions that really makes him stand out.

A former starter at Fairfield, he spent five years on staff with Villanova before joining the Penn State coaching staff back in 2012. He’d be in Happy Valley for nearly a decade as an assistant before joining Kyle Neptune at Fordham in 2021. After Neptune departed for Villanova after just one season at the helm, Urgo took over and has had a fantastic first year as a collegiate head coach, leading the Rams to 25 wins and a 2nd place finish in conference, albeit in a down year for the A-10.

Having just spent nine seasons on staff, Urgo clearly knows Penn State well, and his work this season at Fordham is impressive too. He was gone before Shrewsberry’s incredible run with the Nittany Lions, but bringing back Urgo could certainly be a winning strategy. The one potential issue is that Urgo has just that one season as a head coach and got significant help from Neptune in building that Rams roster, but it’s still more D1 head coaching experience than Shrewsberry had two years ago.