UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – The Penn State men's basketball program is full of new faces this season, and the team is looking to help familiarize the community with the new group.The Nittany Lions have prioritized the idea of 'showing up' for their community this past offseason.
In preseason activities the team participated in community-based events that introduced the players while allowing them to form connections with fans.
"I think that it is important that we show up and support people in any way we can," said new head coach Micah Shrewsberry. "Whether that's going to sporting events, handing out food, or raising money for THON, we should be helping them as a team. It's no different than me asking for their support on game day."
Shrewsberry makes it his goal to take the team to the fans and support Penn State students off the basketball court.
"I went to a Penn State's men's club basketball game on Saturday afternoon. The team sent me their schedule and I am going to try to attend the games," he said. "They said that they are coming to watch us play and I think the supporting effort needs to be both ways. We should go see them too. I want people cheering for their friends, not just a team."
Penn State guard Myles Dread echoed the beliefs of Shrewsberry for when it comes to making connections on campus as a student-athlete.
"Being a student-athlete can be very isolating because where we train is far from the rest of campus," said Dread. "It's important to still be social, go into the HUB-Robeson center to study and be around your peers. It is really cool to see them outside of a class-like setting."
In addition to seeing students outside of a class setting, one of the most recent team activities involved playing pickup basketball games at the freshmen dorm courts. This introduced the coaching staff and players to underclassmen. The team also visited the HUB-Robeson center by bringing "the court to campus" with a toy basketball hoop for students along with their pep rally event.
"I met my best friends by playing basketball on the dorm courts," said guard Sam Sessoms, who spent the first two years of his college career at Binghamton. "It had amazing energy going back there and playing basketball with different guys. I met a lot of new people which was amazing because last year it was hard to be social with the pandemic."
The Nittany Lions are ready to see that community in the stands this season.
Penn State, who opened its season on Wednesday against Youngstown State with a 75-59 win, is excited to have fans back in the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time since the end of the 2019-20 season.
"It is going to be completely different playing with fans in the stadium," said Shrewsberry prior to the Wednesday contest. "Without them the team has been relying on bringing their own energy to the court. It's going to be a completely different atmosphere with fans there and I'm excited for the guys to get that full experience. We are hoping to rally as many people as possible."
Much like Shrewsberry, Sessoms is looking forward to is the "noise" from the stands, something he felt and appreciated in their first game Wednesday night.
"Just to play in front of the fans, your family, like I said earlier in the week, that's what we do it for," Sessoms said. "When you hear the fans scream after you make a layup, get a touch stop, make a stop on defense – you get just a different energy to you. Home-court advantage is a real thing. It was great."
The Nittany Lions will hope to see a continued level of noise and support from the men's basketball faithful this upcoming season and making their mark in the community was a strong first step in making that happen.
