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

Mitch Henderson

We’re not sure exactly the kind of guy Penn State wants to lead its basketball program into the future. This next name checks a lot of boxes, but is he even a realistic hire? They’d be getting a smart Ivy League coach who’s been doing this for over a decade, but he’s also suddenly one of the hottest names in coaching circles with his team still alive in the Sweet Sixteen.

A native of Indiana, Henderson starred at Princeton back in the 90’s and was part of their two most recent NCAA Tournament wins, at least before this season. His coaching career began with a long stint at Northwestern under Bill Carmody, one of his college coaches. He returned to his alma mater in 2011 and has done his best work in his 12th season at the helm, leading the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen as a 15-seed as this season’s Cinderella story.

First, would Henderson leave his alma mater weeks after a Sweet Sixteen run for this job? Second, would Penn State be willing to take the chance on another head coach from Indiana with no direct connections keeping him with the Nittany Lions. If Henderson would skip out on his alma mater, he’d likely leave Penn State high and dry if a better job came along, though he’d be recruiting closer to his home state compared to his current work in New Jersey. File this one under unlikely but certainly worth an interest.