Penn State Sports Magazine
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D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 3 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M The only true long-term commitment is junior forward Jevonnie Scott, who isn't presently practicing with Penn State as he works through some red tape surrounding his transfer from South Plains College. "We needed to position ourselves to have more balance within our ros- ter, within each class, position-wise, class-wise, age-wise," Shrewsberry said. "Bringing in some guys who are older who may just be here for a year — some are here for two — you get a chance to balance yourself out in recruiting, start bringing in more guys that fit who we want to be as a staff, guys who fit Penn State, fit our phi- losophy, how we want to play offensively and defensively. "I got a short opportunity to try and piece it out and build a roster, and that's what I was looking to do." Without that flexibility, it's unlikely that Penn State could have put together the tal- ented, five-man recruiting class that's set to sign this month. A similarly large group is expected in the 2023 cycle. But there's an emotional component to all this, too — one that helped convince big man John Harrar to stick around. Harrar, a super senior and the unques- tioned face of the program, entered the transfer portal following the conclusion of last season, like most of the team. He wants to play in the NCAA Tournament and refuses to count the 2019-20 season, when Penn State would have made the field had it not been for the pandemic. He's a harsh judge of his own accomplish- ments. It would have been tough to envision Harrar achieving that goal with a mix- and-match collection of young players in the first year of Shrewsberry's tenure. In re-recruiting Harrar, Shrewsberry's vi- sion for this season's roster was a key part of his pitch. "Shrews told me who he was going to bring in," Harrar said. "He wasn't bringing in young guys. He was bringing in people who he thought could help us win right away. He's promised to me that he's going to do whatever it takes to win this year, and that's all I can ask." Indeed, Shrewsberry said he owed it to those who stayed, players such as Harrar, senior guards Myles Dread and Sam Ses- sions and junior forward Seth Lundy, to assemble his roster with the short term in mind. "The most important thing for me — when John said he was coming back, hav- ing Myles who never wavered, having Sam who never wavered, now Seth comes back — is that you have a group that has had success in the Big Ten," Shrewsberry said. "Now let's fill it with guys around them who can help them win. I want to do ev- erything I can for those guys to help them win right away." Internally, the experience on Penn State's roster creates a sense of urgency that might not otherwise exist. Excitement surrounds the program from the outside, but most of it is directed toward the future. The luxury of time doesn't apply to Penn State's seven schol- arship seniors. "It's the last go-around," Cornwall said. "You've got to leave it all out there. You don't get another shot at this, especially for us grad transfers. You know, the other guys, they can kind of relax a little bit. But no, not us. We've got to get in the gym, getting work in whenever we can." "Everybody says every year that they want to win," Pickett added. "But as the clock goes, you know exactly what to do. You'll put in more time when the clock is at the end. … I just want to do this for the people who have only one year left, and then for myself as a senior." Despite the abundance of experience that Penn State boasts, all of this remains new. Last month, Shrewsberry compared this roster to a team full of freshmen, even though it doesn't include a single one. They've played plenty of college basket- ball, Shrewsberry said. But they haven't played for him. Shrewsberry's systems have to be learned — defense first, then offense. A team dynamic must be established. Chemistry has to be created. "Basketball is a really easy game as long as everybody is on the same page," Pickett said. "We're definitely getting the chem- istry right [in terms] of where we want people to be on the floor. But when people have played so much college basketball like we have and you know what it takes, how to win, what to do, when you see every- body striving for that goal, it's easier than if you try to bring in a bunch of freshmen and teach them how to actually play." The key to the push and pull between the start of something new for Penn State basketball and the end of the road for some of Penn State's players can be found in the difference between expectation and ambition. To expect the new-look Nit- tany Lions to compete in Year 1 might not be reasonable, but to decline to strive for it would be an error, too. "With seven seniors, that's what those guys want to do," Shrewsberry said. "They want to win. They've had a chance to have all the other accolades, all the individual stuff. They want to win, and they know they get one opportunity to do it. So, they've really bought into trying to win together." ■ 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L S C H E D U L E Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Nov. 10 Youngstown State (BTN) W, 75-59 Nov. 15 at Massachusetts L, 56-81 Nov. 18 St. Francis Brooklyn* TBA Nov. 22 Cornell (BTN)* 6:30 p.m. Nov. 26 LSU** 7 p.m. Nov. 27 Oregon State or Wake Forest** TBA Dec. 1 Miami (Fla.) (ESPN/ESPN2) TBA Dec. 5 Ohio State (BTN) 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 Wagner TBA Dec. 11 at Michigan State (BTN) 2 p.m. Dec. 18 at VCU (NBCSN) 3:30 p.m. Dec. 22 Quinnipiac TBA Dec. 29 Delaware State TBA Jan. 2 Indiana (BTN) 4 p.m. Jan. 5 at Northwestern (BTN) 9 p.m. Jan. 8 Purdue (BTN) Noon Jan. 11 Rutgers (BTN) 6:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at Ohio State (BTN) TBA Jan. 19 Minnesota (BTN) 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Iowa (BTN) TBA Jan. 26 at Indiana (BTN) 8:30 p.m. Jan. 31 Iowa (BTN) 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Wisconsin (BTN) 6 p.m. Feb. 8 Michigan (ESPN/ESPN2) 9 p.m. Feb. 12 at Minnesota (BTN) 8:30 p.m. Feb. 15 Michigan State (BTN) 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at Maryland (ESPN/ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 25 Northwestern (FS1) 7 p.m. Feb. 28 Nebraska (BTN) 7 p.m. March 3 at Illinois (FS1) 7 p.m. March 6 at Rutgers (BTN) Noon March 9-13 Big Ten Tournament (BTN/CBS) TBA * Emerald Coast Classic at Bryce Jordan Center ** Emerald Coast Classic at Niceville, Fla.