3 Takeaways from Shrewsberry’s Introductory Presser
By Evan Smith
Micah Shrewsberry was officially introduced as Penn State Basketball head coach Tuesday
Micah Shrewsberry addressed the media and Nittany Nation for the first official time as Penn State officially introduced him as the 14th Head Coach of the Penn State Basketball Program.
GoPSUSports.com’s Mitch Gerber and Steve Jones, the voice of The Nittany Lions hosted this welcome event hosted in the BJC’s practice gym through Facebook live (yes, with constant season ticket purching pushes from their social media team).
The first guest was Rob Blackman (Purdue Radio Network), commenting on Micah’s “grinder guy” mentality and spoke about how he’s simply tough to dislike. Next up was Mike Carmen (Lafayette Journal & Courier) expressed the belief that Shrewsberry would have been heavily recruited by some of the other coaching openings across the nation. Finally, Dick Jeradi spoke about the importance of Micah’s first hire, Adam Fisher.
With live shots of the Jordan Center, Beaver Stadium (with Welcome Coach Shrewsberry on the big screens) and University Drive for some reason, 204 viewers at the height of the broadcast were able to hear from our new head coach. He addressed in person a small crowd of select Nittany Lion Club members and media, simulcast live on the Big Ten Network.
Here are three key takeaways from new Penn State Basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry’s press conference:
“Not my program”
Micah Shrewsberry was clear to delinate that this is not his program.
He said this is “their program” when talking about the alumni nation, former players and former coaches from the program. He said “it’s his job to put the team in the right direction and lead us to great places.”
Shrewsberry added; “I need to do right by those guys and strive to match the values to this University and how we conduct ourselves on and off the court.”
His goal is to be an underdog type of team, one with a chip on your shoulder. He also said, “I’m not going to forget who said no because something greater was right around the corner (referring to this position).”
Shrewsberry says he will push defense, mentioning how seven of the top eight defensive teams made the Elite 8.