Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 8 A P R I L 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M M icah Shrewsberry returned from Penn State's Big Ten Tournament run looking and sounding like a coach who had just been through the wringer. Shrewsberry and his team had been vy- ing for an NCAA Tournament berth when they arrived in Chicago for the confer- ence tourney and figured they needed to do more work to get it. They did that and more. Opening with a 79-76 win over Illinois, following it with a 67-65 upset of second- seeded Northwestern, then stunning In- diana 77-73 in the semifinals, Penn State earned a spot opposite top-seeded Pur- due in the championship game March 12. In the process, the Nittany Lions erased whatever doubt may have remained at the end of the regular season about their March Madness worthiness. However, the elation was offset by a sense of disappointment that other aspi- rations had not been met. They had been determined to leave Chicago with a cham- pionship but ended up having to settle for a "magical run" when they weren't able to complete their second-half comeback in a 67-65 loss to the Boilermakers. "This time of the year as a coach, it's just running on adrenaline," Shrewsberry said, apologizing for his cracking voice. "We're pretty excited about making the tournament here, and having our name called is a culmination of a season that has had its ups and downs, but we finished it playing well. "Ultimately, we wanted to win the championship, but we didn't get the job done." Senior forward Seth Lundy and su- per senior guard Jalen Pickett both were named to the all-tournament team. Lundy had 19 points and 8 rebounds in the championship game, while Pickett had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists against the Boilers. Program Seeking Improvements During the latter stages of the season, Shrewsberry's name was being con- nected to vacancies at Notre Dame and Georgetown. The Hoyas ended up hiring Ed Cooley away from Providence, but as of March 21, Shrewsberry was reportedly mulling a potential departure for South Bend. The Indianapolis native had been cited as a possible contender for that job ever since Mike Brey announced in January that he would be stepping down after the season. During his second season with the Nittany Lions, Shrewsberry occasion- ally discussed the challenges facing Penn State's basketball program from a broader perspective. Those challenges include improving the program's name, image and likeness efforts and building a more decisive home-court advantage by amping up the atmosphere at the Bryce Jordan Center. "I was trying to garner some of that ex- citement earlier, because I knew we had a really good team," he said. "It takes a long, long time to get all that together, and there are a lot of things that go into it. But it felt like we had something special here, so that's why I was pushing so much early. I thought this team needed some help get- ting there." Penn State averaged 7,719 fans for its 17 home games, a figure that ranked 13th in the conference, ahead of only North- western (4,890). However, the attendance improved as the season went on, and the team's home finale against Maryland drew 10,672 even though the students were away on spring break. Shrewsberry said he appreciated the support and enthusiasm his team had re- ceived. "It's always a constant work in progress with every area of your program," he said, "and we want to continue to build off of this." Lions To Pursue Transfer Prospects Penn State will be active in the trans- fer portal again this offseason. With five seniors exhausting their eligibility and a sixth — Lundy — with a decision to make, Penn State's three-man class of 2023 won't be enough to fill the vacancies on the scholarship roster next year. Upon returning from its second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Texas, the team hosted St. Francis (Pa.) graduate transfer big man Josh Cohen for a visit just two days later. Standing 6-foot-10, 220 pounds, Cohen shared Northeast Con- ference Player of the Year honors after averaging 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this past season. Other early targets in the portal include Cornell grad transfer shooting guard Greg Dolan and Butler sophomore guard Jayden Taylor. ■ LIONS WERE 'RUNNING ON ADRENALINE' DURING BIG TEN SPRINT NAT E BAU E R | NAT E . B AU E R @ O N 3 . C O M Senior forward Seth Lundy was named to the Big Ten All- Tournament team after totaling 19 points and 8 rebounds in the championship game against Purdue. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE