John Harrar caps Penn State career as Big Ten Medal of Honor winner
John Harrar has another piece of hardware to add to his collection. Announced Monday by the Big Ten, the fifth-year senior was awarded as Penn State’s male recipient of the 2021-22 Big Ten Medal of Honor.
The prestigious Big Ten award, bestowed annually for the past 107 years, is “awarded to one male and one female student from the graduating class of each member institution who has demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career.”
In Harrar, the Nittany Lions’ iron man on the hardwood was a natural fit for this year’s honor.
Following a final season at Penn State, his first with Micah Shrewsberry and one filled with strong performances, the head coach’s comments regarding Harrar demonstrated why.
“You can’t say enough things about that kid,” said Shrewsberry. “There’s a lot of things that you can say, how great of a player he is, how great of a person he is, his unbelievable will and fight. He’s one of the toughest dudes I’ve ever been around.”
John Harrar’s resume
That toughness took shape throughout Harrar’s career as a Nittany Lion. And that was especially true in his final campaign at Penn State as he helped provide stability to a program in flux.
On the season, he was named honorable mention All-Big Ten, finishing with 10.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Away from the game, he was also an academic All-Big Ten selection for the fourth time and garnered the conference’s Sportsmanship Award for the third time in his career.
Combined with his four prior seasons of work, that left Harrar as one of the program’s all-time best. He’s now No. 1 in career games played at Penn State with 146 games, and is No. 2 in career field goal percentage (59.6 percent) and No. 5 in career rebounds with 854.
Just as much as Harrar was valued by his Penn State coaches and teammates, he similarly drew praise from competitors. Chief among them, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo responded to his team’s upset loss at the Bryce Jordan Center in February by commending Harrar.
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“Look at our league. He’s the kind of guy that you want to represent your league. He just keeps doing his job,” Izzo said. “There’s no question John Harrar was the difference in the game.
“He’s done something illegal now, he’s gone through the process and he’s done a nice job of that. He’s gotten better every year and he doesn’t complain about what he’s doing. Just keeps getting stronger, better, and tonight he was the hero.”
Penn State impact
Keeping in line with his reputation for caring deeply about his Penn State experience, the Big Ten Medal of Honor also bolsters an undeniable mark made on the university and its larger community as a whole.
Before finishing his time as a Penn State player, Harrar made sure to make that affinity for the university known and how it would carry with him following his playing days.
“I will never give to this place what they gave me,” Harrar said. “I have a saying right now, that I have more to give. So I have a little more to give to this university with my time here left. But, this place has done everything for me. It made me the person I am today. It helped my family. I’ve met lifelong friends here.”
Harrar became the first men’s basketball player to earn the Big Ten Medal of Honor since John Amaechi in 1995. The year’s female award recipient is women’s volleyball’s Jonni Parker.
