Following reports of Penn State losing its head basketball coach to Notre Dame, Penn State’s first official statement on the departure of [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] has been released. Penn State athletics director Pat Kraft released a brief statement confirming the news of Shrewsberry accepting an offer from another school on Wednesday evening. In his statement, Kraft confirmed the school is already working on finding a new head coach to lead the program moving forward.
Here is the full statement from Kraft released by Penn State’s athletics department on Wednesday evening.
“This afternoon, Penn State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Micah Shrewsberry called to inform me that he was leaving the University to accept a position at another institution. We thank Micah for his contributions to the PSU community and wish him the very best. We are already moving forward in a search for a new head coach and will identify and appoint a tremendous coach, teacher and person, who will take us to unprecedented heights.
We are so proud of our amazingly talented student-athletes and all they accomplished this year and will in the future. We are also so appreciative of our student body and our passionate fans who support our basketball program.”
Penn State is in a critical point for its basketball program. After making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 and winning its first NCAA tournament game since 2001, the Nittany Lions face significant roster turnover from graduation, NBA draft entrants, and the transfer portal. A timeline for Penn State naming its next head coach is unknown, although it would seem likely the search will move quickly.
Making a hire soon would allow the next head coach to start tackling all of the work that needs to be done with the roster with the transfer portal and recruiting. Penn State was already having an active week with roster management and recruiting, and it remains unknown how this coaching change impacts that work.
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