Blue White Illustrated

HIS TIME, HIS TEAM S tanding at a podium in the Bryce Jor- dan Center's practice gym on March 30, Micah Shrewsberry reflected on the journey that had delivered him to that moment. A three-year starter and captain from 1995 to '99 at Hanover College in south- eastern Indiana, Shrewsberry spent a year coaching at Wabash College before a two- year stint at DePauw Univer- sity. He was engaged to his future wife, Molly, but his professional future seemed uncertain. Shrewsberry was newly unemployed, his coaching opportunities seem- ingly exhausted. Turned down by college after college, he would have to wait for his first real job in coaching. But in facing those challenges, Shrewsberry absorbed a valuable lesson in a profession filled with rejections. "Be thankful for the noes in life that you've gotten, because something greater is waiting, and there is something greater around the corner," he said. "I'm forever thankful for the people that did say no to me. I'm not going to forget who said no. That's the chip-on-my- shoulder, underdog mentality. I won't forget who said no, but I'm thankful for that because something greater was right around the corner, and that something greater is Penn State University and this basketball program." Shrewsberry's disappointment nearly two decades ago didn't last long. Landing at Marshall as its director of basketball operations in 2003, he quickly returned to the hardwood. Taking his first true as- sistant coaching job at Indiana Univer- sity South Bend, the Indianapolis-area native earned his biggest break when he was hired by Butler's Brad Stevens in 2008, ultimately helping guide the Bull- dogs to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA championship game in 2010 and 2011. Parlaying that success into an assis- | New PSU coach Micah Shrewsberry has spent a lifetime preparing for this moment M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L MEET THE NEW BOSS Shrewsberry speaks at his in- troductory news conference. Photo by Mark Selders/ Penn State Athletics

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