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Nittany Lions to begin new era vs. Youngstown St. | M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L T he Micah Shrewsberry era has an of- ficial on-court start date. Penn State and its new head coach will open the 2021-22 men's basketball season Nov. 10 against Youngstown State at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tip-off time for the game against the Penguins, who finished the 2020-21 sea- son with a NET ranking of 260 and an 11- 12 record, has not yet been determined. The season-opening matchup against Youngstown State was one of five noncon- ference games announced in recent weeks. The first pieces of the Nittany Lions' 2021- 22 slate were set a few days earlier, as the team revealed on June 22 that it will play in the 2021 Emerald Coast Classic. The tour- nament will include a home game to open the first round against Saint Francis Col- lege (Brooklyn), followed by on-site games against LSU and either Wake Forest or Oregon State in Niceville, Fla. Saint Francis finished 9-10 last season, including a 9-9 mark in the Northeast Conference. The game will be played at the BJC on Nov. 18. Penn State's second-round matchup, a guaranteed game, will be against LSU on the campus of Northwest Florida State College just north of Destin, Fla. The Tigers are coming off a 19-10 season that included an appearance in the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tourna- ment and a victory over St. Bonaventure in the first round of the NCAA tourney. Penn State will conclude its tournament appearance on Nov. 27 when it plays in ei- ther the championship or consolation game. One of its potential opponents – Oregon State – is coming off an improbable run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tourney. The Lions' other possible opponent is Wake Forest, which went 5-16 last season. In late June, Penn State announced that it will play host to Miami (Fla.) Dec. 1 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Lions are 3-0 all-time against the Hurricanes, with the most recent matchup taking place in the first round of the NIT in 1995. In other schedule news, Penn State learned in May who its "double-play" and "single-play" Big Ten opponents will be this coming season. The Nittany Lions will play home and away games against Indi- ana, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State and Rutgers as part of a 20-game league slate. In addition, they will play home games against Michi- gan, Nebraska and Purdue, and road games at Illinois, Maryland and Wisconsin. LEE JOINS TEAM Greg Lee, a 6-foot-9 forward, is transferring to Penn State after earning honorable mention All- Mid-American Conference recognition at Western Michigan last season. A native of Rockford, Ill., Lee has one year of eligibil- ity remaining. "Greg is going to be a great addition to our program," Shrewsberry said. "He will provide a veteran presence and add more experience to our front line. His versatil- ity and ability to score the ball in a variety of ways will be really helpful in our sys- tem." Lee averaged 13.0 points per game last season to rank second on the team, while he led the Broncos and ranked seventh in the MAC with an average of 7.2 rebounds per game. He started all 21 games while shooting 50.4 percent from the field. Lee began his collegiate career in 2016 at Cal State Bakersfield. After redshirting his freshman year, he appeared in 92 games with 42 starts as a Roadrunner. He averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest in three seasons at the school. STAFF ADDITIONS Shrewsberry com- pleted his staff in June, adding Tre Whit- ted as assistant to the head coach and Grady Eifert as video coordinator. Whitted fills a role that had been cre- ated for Talor Battle. The Nittany Lions' all-time leading scorer, Battle landed an assistant coaching job at Northwestern this past spring. Whitted had gotten to know both Shrewsberry and assistant Aki Collins during his playing career at Marshall. He spent the past 10 years working in a vari- ety of player development jobs following a four-year professional playing career. His role will include providing support not just to Shrewsberry but to the entire staff, as well as players. Eifert joins Penn State's staff following a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Purdue. ■ R E C R U T I N G N O T E S Philadelphia prospect Jameel Brown is planning to take an offi- cial visit this summer to Penn State, he said in late June. Brown, a four- star prospect, is the No. 112 player in the Class of 2022 according to Ri- vals.com. He's listed at 6-foot-2, but Brown says he's now up to 6-4. "I'm like a 6-4 combo guard," he said. "I can play on the ball. I'm comfortable on the ball and off the ball. I can score really well." Brown said he was working to get official visit dates finalized. The four schools that are expected to get of- ficial visits this summer from the former Purdue commit are Penn State, Notre Dame, Virginia and Minnesota. … Otega Oweh, the 128th-ranked prospect in the Class of 2022 and younger brother of for- mer Penn State football player Odafe Oweh, is looking at the Nit- tany Lions, along with Miami, Min- nesota and Seton Hall. A three-star player at Blair Academy in New Jer- sey, Oweh noted that the Lions "have a new staff right now, so they're trying to rebuild. My brother also went there, obviously, so it's a legacy thing. I think it could be good for me to go there. With my versatility, they could build a team around me." –DAVID ECKERT

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