Report: Notre Dame hires away Penn State basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry on seven-year deal

Notre Dame is reportedly closing in on its next men’s basketball coach. The Fighting Irish are finalizing a seven-year contract with Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry to take the role, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported, and Stadium’s Jeff Goodman added the deal is worth more than $4 million per year.

According to Norlander, Shrewsberry has been Notre Dame’s top target “for the past two weeks” to replace Mike Brey, but conversations between the two sides didn’t start until Penn State’s season-ending loss in the NCAA Tournament over the weekend. An announcement is expected to come Friday, Norlander reported.

The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna reported some notable financial details, as well. Shrewsberry’s buyout was $4 million and had a raise and extension on the table from Penn State. The raise likely would’ve doubled his salary, according to Fortuna.

Shrewsberry just wrapped up his second season with Penn State and took the Nittany Lions to their first NCAA Tournament since 2011. They finished with a 23-14 overall record and a 10-10 mark in Big Ten play to enter the tournament as a No. 10 seed, defeating Texas A&M in their first game before falling to Texas in the Round of 32.

Shrewsberry’s ties to Indiana run deep. He went to Cathedral High School in Indianapolis and played college basketball at Division III Hanover College in Hanover. He also worked as an assistant coach at D-III Wabash from 1999-2000 and DePauw from 2001-03 before becoming the head coach at Indiana-South Bend from 2005-07 — which gives him a direct tie to South Bend.

After the 2007 season, Shrewsberry spent three years as an assistant at Butler from 2008-11 before working at Purdue from 2011-13. From there, he worked for the Boston Celtics from 2013-19 and returned to West Lafayette from 2019-21 under Matt Painter. Penn State was Shrewsberry’s first Division I head coaching opportunity, and he totaled a 37-31 overall record in two seasons in Happy Valley.

Shrewsberry has addressed questions about his future since the Big Ten Tournament, but took time in his press conference after Penn State’s loss to Texas to reflect on this past season. In the process, he said it’s been “a joy” to coach the Nittany Lions this year.

“I told these guys after the game, like, you can’t take this for granted, right?” Shrewsberry said. “I’ve been in programs that they go to the tournament every single year and it looks really easy from the outside, but nobody knows or appreciates the hard work that they put in. It’s these guys, like, what they’re doing, the hard work that they put in to get here.”

“It’s been a joy for me to just be on this ride with them and watch ’em, and watch what they’ve accomplished.”