Bauer: How Micah Shrewsberry built Penn State basketball, intentionally, into a March monster

The first season for Micah Shrewsberry at Penn State was built on survival. Taking over a program in disarray, roster construction took shape as desperation. They’d need to convince players, both on the roster and in the portal, to buy into a vision without evidence.

Though an exodus was sustained, wins accrued in John Harrar, Sam Sessoms, Seth Lundy, and Myles Dread returning. And, with the addition of all-MAAC performer Jalen Pickett through the transfer portal, the Nittany Lions could compete.

Shortly after Penn State’s 76-59 bludgeoning of Texas A&M on Thursday night, Shrewsberry was asked to contrast the experiences. The architect of a group thriving en route to inarguably one of the best seasons in program history, Shrewsberry’s recollections were an illuminating glimpse into the origins of how and why the Nittany Lions have become one of the nation’s most dangerous teams this March.

“We could really guard people. Probably because that’s all we did in the summer and the fall and in practice all the time. But this group is different,” Shrewsberry said. “And now we’re figuring out different ways. It’s just weapons. Tonight was (Andrew) Funk’s night where he got it going, but Seth has had those games, and he’s going to have them for us in this tournament. Pickett has this those games, Cam (Wynter) has had those games, Myles, and other guys have stepped up. 

“We just have a lot of weapons we go to and mix it up. And I think that makes us hard to guard. It makes people think I’m a really good coach because I’ve got really good players sitting next to me.”

What Shrewsberry failed to mention, with Funk, Pickett, and Lundy sitting to his right, was his role in bringing and keeping those players in the program.

Though it took a few months last season, Shrewsberry and his coaching staff gradually learned the depths of Pickett’s talent. He’s a uniquely gifted talent who plays the point guard position unlike any other in college basketball. Realizing as much, the seeds of the 2022-23 Penn State team took root.

While Sessoms would move on in the portal and Harrar ran out of eligibility, a wildly improved offensive attack formed. The Nittany Lions would utilize Pickett’s mind, playmaking, and elite passing. Decisions would be made by a 6-4, 210-pound guard from spots all over the floor, especially in the paint. Expertly assessing defenses, knowing how to beat them, Pickett was capable of and would be counted upon to dictate games.

“(He) makes the other four players that are on the floor with him even better. Because, he is an elite level passer that, when your rotation happens, whatever you’re going to do, the decision is happening now,” Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams said, dazed by what’d befallen his Aggies in Des Moines late Thursday night. “I think that that’s why their basket assist rate is so high. And I also think because they play with the floor spread so much, 22 is with the ball. They play with a low turnover rate. And then as soon as you make your decision on how you’re going to help, it’s going to lead to an immediate three, or a one-more.”

To get there, though, Pickett needed the right pieces to surround him. And while some were already in the program, the formula wouldn’t work without a combination of perfect transfer additions and personnel transformations.

In the transfer portal, those crucial pieces committed to the program on the same day. Led by Bucknell guard Funk, the 27-point sharp-shooting star of the win over the Aggies, and followed soon thereafter by Camren Wynter, Drexel’s do-it-all scoring guard, April 14, 2022, would reshape the possibilities of what Penn State could become.

But, it would also take an embrace of new roles for two mainstays in the program. A starter for 78 career games, in his fifth and final season as a Nittany Lion, Myles Dread would need to accept a move to the bench and the reduced minutes that would come with it. Remaining a 3-point shooting specialist, the dirty work of guarding bigs and team-first selflessness demanded Dread’s all. He’d deliver, earning his first career captaincy along the way.

And in Lundy, Penn State needed a similar shift in perspective. Having already taken major strides to become a top-tier defender as a junior, Lundy’s senior season would require taking the ball out of his hands as a driver. Saddled by 63 turnovers in 30 games played, instead, his role could be fully maximized as a catch-and-shoot 3-point sniper. 

Complemented by much-needed contributions from transfer Mikey Henn, and true freshmen Kebba Njie, Evan Mahaffey, and Kanye Clary, Shrewsberry and the Nittany Lions believed in their potency. It required an evolution through the season, though, for Penn State’s bigs handling a brutal Big Ten, and for Wynter and Clary, whose penetrating has further transformed the offense in the past four weeks of action. 

Converging into 40 minutes of diabolically beautiful basketball against the Aggies, the limits of Shrewsberry’s winning formula will be tested again Saturday night. Then, the Nittany Lions will face 2-seed Texas in the Round of 32. 

Deeply grateful for the opportunity to coach the wholly unique monster of his creation, and its execution of his vision, this is now a Penn State basketball team that has captured the imagination of the late-night college basketball crowd on the game’s biggest stage, Guided by a mutually-abiding faith in the blueprint and the potential of the players tasked with executing it, the Nittany Lions own a story of persistence, belief, and worthiness. 

“(Dread and Lundy) stuck it out here. And I’m happy for those guys because now they’re getting to experience that,” Shrewsberry said. “But Pickett decided to come and play for us, and I had never coached a game before in my life.

“We talked about this. We talked about this vision. Same with Funk, same with Cam. We talked about this vision of doing this, and it’s all coming to fruition for us.”