Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry pleads for support
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry described his pitch as pleading. By Tuesday, he said it would turn into begging.
Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., his Nittany Lions will host Michigan State at the Bryce Jordan Center to mark the start of Big Ten play. And, more than any other moment in his time directing the Penn State men’s basketball program, he issued a call for action.
Shrewsberry wants fans, he wants them in the BJC, and he wants them to be loud on Wednesday.
“We need some help. Everybody able and able-bodied to come to this game, we need your help,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s all I’m asking for is, for us to do what we want to do, for us to get where we want to get, it can’t just be us, can’t just be the families, can’t just be the few that always show up.
“I’m not taking anybody for granted because I appreciate the people who’ve come. But if you want to see a good basketball team, if you want to help our program go from one level to the next, then there’s got to be some level of investment, and it’s getting to put up or shut up time.”
In four home games this season, all wins, Penn State has averaged 6,358 fans in attendance. Most recently, that included a game against Lafayette in which students weren’t on campus, which Shrewsberry highlighted as a positive turnout in their absences.
Whether tickets sold or in-person attendance, though, the number is a drop-off from Penn State’s average attendance of 8.512 fans during the 2021-22 season.
Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry press conference
Asked by a reporter whether, after a year on the job, his concern is tickets sold or butts in seats, however, Shrewsberry pointed to a need for as many fans as possible to be in the building, and then for those people to exert as much support and enthusiasm as possible while in that scenario.
“I think it’s probably more getting butts in seats for tickets that have been sold. It’s all helpful. People are buying season tickets, but they can’t make it to games. That helps us as a department, but the more people we have, if it’s a certain number of people that make it, we need that number to be as loud as possible,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s the biggest thing is creating an atmosphere. Maybe that starts with us. Maybe we need to play better at home. So we help create that atmosphere. The students have been great, and the people that have come have been great. We just need more.”
Shrewsberry continued, urging anyone willing to attend Wednesday night’s tilt for the Nittany Lions.
“There are more people walking around this campus. What are we doing? I understand, if you got something going on, have at it. I was a college student once, I was busy. I’m a college coach right now and I’m busy,” he said. “But if I don’t have anything going on, I go to hockey games, I go volleyball games. I got four kids.
“We got a fun group. We got a bunch of good dudes who also go support. Those guys are all at the volleyball game because they were excited about going. They’re all going to the football games, they’re all doing stuff, they’re supporting other people. I’m just asking for somebody to support them.”
Should that support come, Shrewsberry described a Penn State group worthy of it this season
“If I had a group of assholes on my team, don’t come to watch them. I wouldn’t enjoy watching them either. That’s not who we have,” Shrewsberry said. “We have good kids, we have kids that are working hard in the classroom. And we have kids that are doing things in the community for people.
“We play a style of basketball that’s fun to watch, we play hard as hell in every single possession. We’re just competing. If you can’t appreciate that, I don’t know what you want to appreciate, I don’t know what you want to watch. Tomorrow, I’ll be begging.”
Penn State opens Big Ten play against Michigan State on Wednesday at the BJC.
