Micah Shrewsberry reportedly leaving Penn State after 2 seasons with program
Micah Shrewsberry is leaving Penn State after 2 seasons leading the program. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, he’s taking the head coaching position at Notre Dame.
Multiple reports on Wednesday stated that Shrewsberry and the Fighting Irish are finalizing a 7-year deal. He reportedly had a significant contract upgrade on the table from Penn State to try and keep him in State College, but Shrewsberry’s cryptic remarks ahead of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament last week proved telling.
After several weeks of speculation, he’s moving on.
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
Shrewsberry went 37-31 in 2 seasons with the Nittany Lions. The move comes on the heels of Penn State’s 1st NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2010-11 season and the program’s 1st tournament win since 2001. Penn State went 23-14 this season and earned a 10-seed in the field. The Nittany Lions beat 7-seed Texas A&M in the opening round of play.
But he left his future up in the air last week when asked directly if he’d be back at Penn State next season
“It’s an ‘I don’t know’ question,” he told reporters ahead of the Nittany Lions’ game against Texas A&M.
Notre Dame makes too much sense for the head coach. He has deep roots in the state of Indiana.
The 46-year-old Shrewsberry grew up in Indianapolis, played his college ball for Hanover College in the state, and then coached as an assistant at various smaller-name Indiana colleges. He was an assistant on Brad Stevens’ staff at Butler before joining Matt Painter’s bench at Purdue. He went on to spend 6 years in the NBA with the Boston Celtics before returning to college basketball and Purdue in 2019.
After 2 more seasons as an assistant with the Boilermakers, he took the Penn State job in 2021.
He’ll take over for Mike Brey at Notre Dame — the program’s all-time winningest coach. But the Irish have only appeared once in the last 5 NCAA Tournaments and they haven’t made it past the 2nd round since the 2015-16 season. They’ll hope for an immediate turnaround under Shrewsberry.
At Penn State, the program will look for its 4th coach in 5 years.