Notre Dame reportedly hires Penn State's Micah Shrewsberry as next head coach
A strong run at Penn State has landed head coach Micah Shrewsberry a new job.
Notre Dame is finalizing a seven-year deal with the coach after two seasons with the Nittany Lions, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. The Irish have reportedly identified him as their top target for the last two weeks and will introduce him on Friday.
Penn State offered Shrewsberry a lucrative contract extension to stay, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Shrewsberry will fill a position vacated by Mike Brey, the winningest coach in Notre Dame history who announced he was leaving the program earlier this year after 22 seasons in South Bend, but not retiring. It has been a rough few years for Notre Dame, which went 11-21 this season and 3-17 in ACC play.
The program has reached the NCAA tournament once since 2017 and finished the season below .500 three times in that span.
Penn State responds to Micah Shrewsberry's exit
A few hours after Notre Dame was reported to be hiring Shrewsberry, Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft released a statement confirming the coach was leaving and thanking him for his contributions to the community:
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 Penn State 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.
Why Notre Dame hired Micah Shrewsberry
In Shrewsberry, the Irish will be getting a coach who energized an even more moribund program at Penn State. The Nittany Lions hadn't made the tournament since 2011 when Shrewsberry took over in 2021, but he changed that in Year 2 with a 23-14 record and run to the Big Ten tournament final, where they lost to Purdue.
The first round of March Madness became a showcase for Shrewsberry and Penn State, which clobbered Texas A&M, 76-59, as a No. 10 seed before losing to No. 2 Texas. The Irish were apparently impressed.
Shrewsberry loomed as an attractive candidate in this year's coaching cycle. There was some speculation he could be a candidate for Georgetown, which ended up hiring Ed Cooley, while Penn State did its best to keep him for Year 3.
Before Penn State, Shrewsberry worked as an assistant coach with stints at Purdue, the Boston Celtics and Butler, and also worked as head coach at IU South Bend, only a few miles from his new job. The 46-year-old coach has plenty of ties to the local area in Indiana as an Indianapolis native with degrees from Hanover and Indiana State.
