Q&A: Catching up with Penn State hoops transfer Mikey Henn

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry and the men’s basketball program welcomed a much-needed transfer addition Monday evening. Mikey Henn, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from the University of Denver, made the call for the Nittany Lions over interest from finalists Illinois and Notre Dame.

Henn’s pick rounds out Penn State’s roster ahead of Shrewsberry’s second season with the program. Joining two other transfers, Bucknell’s Andrew Funk and Drexel’s Cam Wynter, plus a vaunted five-man  Class of 2022 that includes Jameel Brown, Kebba Njie, Evan Mahaffey, Kanye Clary, and Demetrius Lilley, the Nittany Lions have eight newcomers. And they’ll all join the program in the next few weeks.

They’ll arrive to join a core of Penn State returning veterans that includes Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy, Myles Dread, and Dallion Johnson.

Following Henn’s announcement, Blue White Illustrated caught up with the new Nittany Lion to learn more about his decision, what he’s looking forward to at Penn State, and what fans can expect during the 2022-23 season.

Catching up with Penn State transfer Mikey Henn

BWI: Why Penn State?

Honestly, they had been the best in the whole recruiting process the whole time. Since Coach Farrelly reached out to me about a month ago, it’s just been consistent communication, good situation. These guys are really just, they’re good people to be around and that was what I wanted to be around.

BWI: When you went into the portal, what were you looking for? Were there things you considered priorities?

I was actually pretty much dead set on playing overseas. So, I kind of threw my name in the portal for the heck of it and started to get more and more attention, and then some of the big guys started calling and yeah, here I am. I wanted wanted something that would be a good fit, not only on the basketball court, but the teammates and the school as well. The academic piece was part of it. I got a few degrees here now and I’m just kind of continuing my education, so that was a good piece of it. And what Coach Shrews is building seems to be special. He seems like he has a lot of great experience. He’s a great guy. And we’re gonna have a good team next year. I’m just excited to be a part of it.

BWI: Does playing in the Big Ten change the profile of competition you’ve faced?

Yeah, for sure. I grew up in Seattle, a lot of good basketball players in Seattle. I’ve been playing against high level guys my whole life. When you’re a little kid on the West Coast, you always want to play Power Five, PAC 12, something like that. Right? So the Big Ten, that’s as good a competition as you can ask for. And I feel like my whole life, I’ve played my best when I’m playing with good players and against other good players. So I think it’s gonna be a really good step for my career, and I think it’s gonna be a great year.

BWI: What gives you confidence that you’ve got a good group around you at Penn State for this final season?

I announced my final three two weeks ago and I already had guys hitting me up from the team. I was talking to Jalen Pickett and I was talking to Cam Wynter and they were cool, super accepting. It seems like they want to play with me. I just put my commitment out and Myles Dread hit me right away, we already texted. So from my interactions with them and what I’ve heard from the coaches, it seems like everybody’s great people in the program.

BWI: Can you self scout for me a little bit, what you feel like your strengths and weaknesses are?

Everybody’s gonna recognize me for my shooting. That’s kind of the main thing, because I shoot it and I can shoot it from range. But really, I have a good feel, high IQ, all that good stuff. And passing is one of my best, if not my best attribute on the basketball court. In Coach Shrews’ system, he’s looking for people that can shoot the ball and play make and all these type of things. And he thinks that I can kind of be the glue and getting everybody together with my passing ability.

BWI: Obviously your size is super appealing to Penn State. Is 6-8, 225 right?

I’m probably about 6-8, 230 at the moment. But my playing weight is always around 225..

BWI: Are you going to be comfortable handling four/five responsibilities defensively if that’s what they ask of you?

Yes. And, you know what, I think our team’s gonna be very versatile defensively because with ball screen actions, I think we’ll be able to switch a lot of the actions. And basically on top of that, two years ago at Portland, I came into play the four in the WCC. Our big guy ended up opting out for COVID, so I was thrust into playing the five the whole year over in the WCC. And, in the WCC, the guys are just as big as the Big Ten guys. So I’ve definitely had some experience with it. And even this year on our team at Denver, I’ve had some experience playing the five. So I think defensively, I’ll be able to hold my own and offensively I’ll cause a lot of mismatches.

BWI: Penn State fans know that they needed a forward. What would you say to Penn State fans?

I’m excited to get out there. I’m excited to get to work. I just couldn’t be more excited for this year ahead of us. I think it’s gonna be a great year for me personally, a great year for our team, and a great year for the community.

BWI: Did you get a timeline for when you think you might be able to get here?

Yeah, it’s gonna be a couple of weeks. I’m still out here in Denver. I moved back to Seattle this weekend. They have some of the older guys coming in this weekend. The younger kids aren’t coming until the following weekend. So, it’ll probably be a couple weeks for me but I’ll be out there sooner rather than later.