PSU basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry to ND???

Submitted by MrWoodson on March 22nd, 2023 at 5:53 PM

Sources: Notre Dame is finalizing a deal to make Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry the school’s next head coach.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 22, 2023

befuggled

March 23rd, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^

I'm more concerned about the two years of head coaching experience, but this is Penn State basketball. They literally hadn't made the NCAA tournament in over a decade. In that period they have as many post-season trips to the College Basketball Invitational (which I didn't even realize was a thing) as they do to the NIT.

Kevin14

March 23rd, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^

He's from Indiana, coached at various Indiana colleges for like 15 years (including two Purdue stints).  Six years as a Celtics assistant.  Then two years as HC at a Big Ten program, including PSU's most successful season in like 20+ years.  Add the fact that he's supposedly beloved by everyone -- had Jalen Brown and Tatum facetiming the PSU team this year bc they were rooting for him so much. 

This is an incredible hire for ND and huge loss for PSU.  The bar for basketball success at ND is also pretty low.  Look at Brey's career.  23 seasons and missed the tourney 10 times. 

sarto1g

March 22nd, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^

Says a lot about something that Penn St, flush with B1G cash, has to watch their coach make a lateral move (at best) like this after a successful season.  

NittanyFan

March 22nd, 2023 at 6:39 PM ^

Penn State is historically cheap in spending for athletics --- unless it's football. 

Simple as that.  This doesn't surprise me.  Neither will be I surprised if/when they re-hire Jim Ferry from UMBC (ugggggggggggggggggggggh).

(Even in football, spending $ is a recent development.  JoePa & his staff had fairly modest salaries --- well, modest by big-time college football standards, that is.  The "cheapness" is rather institutionally embedded into the athletic department)

NittanyFan

March 22nd, 2023 at 8:01 PM ^

This cheapness is/was embedded into the PSU Athletic Department since well before 2011.

As regards PSU's various Sandusky settlements and who pays what, it's a long, tortured, back-door, outside-the-media fight between PSU and their insurance companies.  I don't care who wins that fight, both parties sort of suck there.

NittanyFan

March 22nd, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^

Sure, maybe in the 60s and 70s.  But Paterno coached all the way to the early 2010s, of course.  And he made a reported $1.1MM in 2010.  For 99% of professions, nobody would consider that a modest salary, even today.

But in the relative sense versus the likes of Bob Stoops, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Mack Brown and Les Miles, his 2010 salary absolutely was modest.  All of the above were making $4MM plus in 2010.

(PSU finished each of 2008/2009 in the Top 10, so the team was still performing well)

bronxblue

March 23rd, 2023 at 11:20 AM ^

I'm being honest, I'm not sure there's a big upside at ND compared to other jobs that Shrewsberry would, I assume, also be in the running for.  Maybe compared to PSU (though even that feels somewhat questionable) but he's got a lot of buzz around him and so he parlayed that into a program that, even in a depressed ACC, is probably the 6th/7th best spot and may be worse depending on how you feel about the futures for teams like Louisville, Clemson, FSU, etc.  ND football makes a ton of money but otherwise the rest of the school is tied into the ACC revenue deals and those aren't great anyway and I believe are locked for about a decade, meaning they're going to be further behind resource-wise compared to teams they'll be recruiting against.  

I know he's an Indiana guy and maybe he's eyeing the situations are Purdue and Indiana and hoping to make a jump if either of those programs have coaching changes in the coming years but just off the top of my head feels like places like Georgetown, Providence, even Georgia Tech feel like places where you could have just as much success, if not more, and not have to play second fiddle to football.

mfan_in_ohio

March 23rd, 2023 at 10:38 AM ^

Penn State was a senior-heavy team that was due to take a big step back next year.  Notre Dame has nowhere to go but up. They were 3-17 in a weak ACC and they only have, at most, six scholarship players on the roster next year.  So the roster situations of the schools aren't that different, but ND will be happy with a .500 season next year, while the same season at Penn State would look like a disappointment.  Meanwhile, according to this article, he should have way more NIL resources to use in both recruiting and the portal.

RobM_24

March 22nd, 2023 at 6:20 PM ^

It's actually his second stop in South Bend. He was at IU-South Bend when I went there in 2005-2007. I spent a lot of time around him playing pickup games and lifting weights. He's definitely a player's coach. Fun guy to shoot the shit with. He's got a lot of Indiana basketball connections too, so I'm guessing Michigan will cross paths with him a lot on the recruiting trail. 

MaizeBlueA2

March 22nd, 2023 at 7:04 PM ^

He's from Indiana, isn't he? Or maybe he just worked at a couple of schools in the state. 

Of note, ND will have a black head MBB, WBB and FB coach. Yeah, someone will get triggered by that comment, but representation matters and one day we'll be at a place where that isn't something anyone would ever notice. One day.

njvictor

March 22nd, 2023 at 7:54 PM ^

This is just a weird move to me. I feel like he could've waited a few years and gotten a better job. Then again, he is losing a lot of talent from this year's team

bluesalt

March 23rd, 2023 at 5:19 AM ^

He’s from Indiana, and Notre Dame will be the 6th school he’s coached for in that state, so it makes sense to me.  The Purdue job isn’t opening up any time soon, and succeeding at Notre Dame would make him a prime contender for Indiana the next time that position comes around, moreso than staying at Penn State would have.

swc_92

March 22nd, 2023 at 8:07 PM ^

Tough break for PSU, he seems like a good coach, got them to the tourney in only year 2. Expectations will be a bit higher at ND, will be interesting to see if he can deliver. At the very least, hopefully PSU can go back to being a near auto-win in basketball now. 

mfan_in_ohio

March 23rd, 2023 at 10:42 AM ^

What expectations should there be? They just went 3-17 in the ACC and have 6 scholarship players on the roster if they can keep their one remaining signee and their 5th year guy.  Anything better than last in the ACC next season would be a pretty fair achievement.