Building on effort culture, Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry continues program's ascent

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry exhaled, fresh off a 67-60 win over Northwestern Friday night. 

Sitting in front of reporters at a podium in the bowels of the Bryce Jordan Center, he praised the performance of senior John Harrar. Notching 11 points and 20 rebounds in the win over the Wildcats, the big man again set a tone Shrewsberry has come to appreciate. 

And it has extended beyond Harrar toward the entirety of the Nittany Lions’ roster. 

“I just appreciate our guys,” Shrewsberry said. “We’ve been really resilient the entire year and we’ve really fought. We haven’t won them all, but we’ve had a chance to win them all, and we played well most of the time here at home. 

“Our guys are just playing hard. They play hard for each other and they play hard for… those fans. We want to take this homestand and finish it the right way and really give us some momentum headed into those last two games next week and then the Big Ten Tournament.”

Improving to 12-13 on the season with a 7-10 mark against Big Ten competition, Penn State now sits alone in 10th place in the conference standings. 

But in Shrewsberry’s first season with the program, one in which a significant transition occurred in players and personnel, the win acted as another indicator of progress made. And in Northwestern coach Chris Collins, Shrewsberry has made a believer. 

Chris Collins’ assessment of Micah Shrewsberry first Penn State season

“I think Micah’s done an outstanding job,” Collins said. “There was already a culture of hard play. You guys know that… The one thing you always said about Penn State when Pat was coaching, those guys always played hard. So there was already a pretty good culture of hard play.”

Having built on that culture by adding key pieces through the transfer portal, including Jalen Pickett (11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds), Collins continued in nailing down what has differentiated the Nittany Lions this season. 

Capturing a team identity and doubling down on it, Penn State’s successes have been tied directly to that effort. 

“They’ve become a tough-minded defensive team,” Collins said. “I think they’ve found their identity defensively as the season’s gone on. You’ve kind of seen that. I feel like they’re really sound on that end of the floor.”

Friday evening, Shrewsberry echoed the sentiment.

Producing another suffocating defensive effort, the Nittany Lions won all of the major metrics. Against Northwestern’s 37 percent shooting and 29 rebounds, the Nittany Lions knocked down 42 percent of their shots, drilled 13 3-pointers, and finished with 45 rebounds. 

Relying on an unmitigated effort, Shrewsberry identified the formula’s success again. 

“Our guys are fighting and digging and clawing on each and every possession,” Shrewsberry said. “Throughout the year, we’ve gotten better offensively as the game has gone on, for the most part… The last 10 minutes of the game usually are our best offense. Now we’ve had a chance to see what people do, how they’re attacking us. We haven’t really turned it over as much in that period.

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“We played great, we moved the basketball, they shared it. Guys made big shots. We were pretty sure-handed and didn’t turn it over. But we guarded the entire night and I’m just proud of that effort.”

Tying up his assessment of Penn State’s first-year successes for Shrewsberry, Collins acknowledged the difficulty of the task. 

Intimately aware of the challenges that accompany growing programs with a lack of tradition of success, Collins said he foresees the trajectory of this season continuing for Penn State under Shrewsberry.

“Micah has done a really good job. They run good stuff offensively, they play really hard, they make you earn everything you get. He’s off to a great start,” Collins said. “Year one is always tough. You come in and you’re trying to put together the things you want and plant the seeds toward the program that you want to build. He’s done an outstanding job creating that identity early. 

“They’re going to be tough to handle moving forward, there’s no question about that. He has done a great job here.”

Penn State returns to action Sunday evening at the BJC, hosting Nebraska. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on BTN.