Micah Shrewsberry Reported to be Penn State’s Next Head Coach

While it has long been rumored to be happening Jeff Goodman has been the biggest name we’ve seen report that Purdue Associate Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry will soon be departing Purdue and become the next head coach at Penn State.

Shrewsberry is currently in his second stint with the Boilermakers. He was with Purdue from 2011-2013 before leaving for the NBA to partner with Brad Stevens in Boston. Shrewsberry was previously an assistant at Butler from 2008-2011. Shrewsberry returned to Purdue in 2019 and it seems like this will be his last season with the team.

Shrewsberry explicitly came back to Purdue in order to obtain a head coaching job. The Associate head coaching role at Purdue seems to be a jumping off point to a head coaching gig. He will be at least the third coach in this role to get a head gig. He joins Greg Gary (Mercer) and Jack Owens (Miami Ohio) as recent associate head coaches to head off to be the head man elsewhere.

If you’ve watched much Purdue basketball this year you know the importance of Shrewsberry to this team. He’s often seen drawing up offensive plays during timeouts. He’s also called out by current and former players alike as a huge part of the success of these Purdue teams. Losing him will be a big blow to the team but it’s a great opportunity for him. One would assume that Shrewsberry will finish out the NCAA Tournament before departing for Penn State. I’m sure it will be difficult for Painter and the rest of the team to face him 1-2 times each season.

This is also the rare instance where I can’t wish Shrewsberry complete success. Obviously I like the guy and want him to succeed but never be better than Purdue. Penn State can finish second in the conference behind Purdue every year. Seems fair right? We wish Coach Shrewsberry great success (with the above mentioned caveats).