Braeden Shrewsberry, star of the State College Little Lion basketball team, is the best reason for Penn State Basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry to stay with the Nittany Lions basketball program next year and beyond.
Braeden, a 6’2″ shooting guard, was named Mid-Penn Commonwealth division player of the year Tuesday night. He is averaging 17.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. The three-star recruit had offers from George Washington, Saint Joseph’s, and Xavier, ranked as the 181st-best player in the nation (by 247Sports Composite). Plus, Shrewsberry signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Nittany Lions and, well, his father! With many rumors swirling around about Shrewsberry and Notre Dame and Georgetown, this is a clear reason to stay with the Nittany Lions. When Braeden committed to Penn State, Coach Shrewsberry stated this would be the first time he was able to coach his son. Nittany Central was able to watch Braeden play over the weekend and here’s the scouting report: The State College Little Lions hosted Upper St. Clair in the first round of the PIAA 6A Playoffs last Saturday, winning easily 72-42.
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Despite a one-point margin after the first quarter, State College won the second and third quarters by a combined 29 points, running away with the game. And there was one reason for the result … and his name is Braeden Shrewsberry. Braeden was clearly the best player on the floor. Playing every minute of the game until the Little Lions emptied the bench with one minute left in the third quarter, here are his unofficial stats: 20 points (7-11 from the field)6 assists5 rebounds1 steal3 turnovers He was 4-4 from the free throw line and 2-5 from three. Nittany Central was impressed by how easily he let the game come to him. A NC insider saw him play last year and he forced 11 (!) three-pointers in just 24 minutes of game action. Braeden was incredibly efficient throughout the game and despite the fact he could probably score every possession, was satisfied running the offense and getting the rest of the team involved. Braeden played mostly point and shooting guard, despite being one of the tallest players of the team. He had no issues getting into the paint and out-jumped defenders at the rim, whether scoring or grabbing rebounds. He’ll still likely need to get a bit bigger and stronger to defend in the Big Ten Conference, but that’s pretty normal to say about a high school senior. While it’s possible Micah could leave and take Braeden with him, the entirety of Shrewsberry’s family lives in State College. His next eldest son is also on the State College team, perhaps a future Nittany Lion himself one day. While there may be many reasons for Micah Shrewsberry to think about other options, his top-200 son playing for him has to be one of the best reasons for him to stay in Happy Valley.
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NittanyCentral is his second reporting job following the Men's Basketball program. He co-founded and co-hosts the Shots Gotta Fall - The Penn State Basketball Podcast (the premiere, the best, the only) with Steve Travis.
Smith's most proud moment covering the team was seeing the national No. 9 ranking during Pat Chambers' last year. His most embarrassing moment was spending almost a thousand dollars to travel 2,000 miles in 46 hours to watch the Nittany Lions lose to Temple in the 2011 NCAA Tournament (screw you Juan Fernandez).
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