Penn State Men’s Basketball: Andrew Funk Embracing What the Three Has Brought Him

It wasn’t that long ago Andrew Funk looked in the mirror and was ready to be done with basketball. It was a bittersweet moment, but there was also a release and a relief to be found here as well. The stress, the long days, the tired nights, it might all be over soon.

Because there is a strange contract at the core of being a college basketball player. Yes you are able to experience the unique opportunity of playing sports in front of thousands of people, often on television, traveling the country and on the only real road towards professional athletics. But the bill comes due in many different forms. You are tired, you are worked until you can’t work anymore. You have school, media, practice, games, travel and all the while you’re engaged in the pursuit of something you may never catch. You will very likely fail, and all everyone asks for you in return is everything you have.

It is tiring and yes it is often rewarding, but it also drains a little something from your soul as the years wear on. And eventually, facing the reality that sports might not be your future, you’re often ready to embrace that reality with open arms. Somewhere along the way it stopped being what it once was, somewhere along the way you’ve gone too far down the tracks to stop now, but that doesn’t mean you’re not looking forward to getting off the train.

“When I got done last year at Bucknell I knew I was going to take this fifth year, but like, I wasn’t sold that I was going to keep playing [afterwards],” Funk told StateCollege.com “I’m 23, I’ve been playing since I was five or six years old like [and] it has become a lot. But you know, I kind of fell in love with it this year, to be honest with you … I’m concerned with the season right now but then, you know, after that, I couldn’t tell you. My mind changes every two weeks – do I want to stay in basketball? You know, do I see myself getting to coaching? Do I want to stay on the sports side of things? I graduated degree in finance and Bucknell and I’m getting my MBA now, do I want to get into that sector? So I think after the playing days are done, I could see myself getting a variety of things.”

It is a strange situation that Funk finds himself in, answering the question of when those playing days might be over. A year ago he was ready to take one final shot at the whole basketball thing and then maybe call it quits. Then in the process he managed to turn himself into one of the better three-point shooters in the country – few players having made more or shot at a better clip. Heck, Funk wasn’t even that great of a three-point shooter before this season. His entire career he never shot better than 36% from beyond the arc. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special either. In the final stages of a career Funk was nearly ready to call completed, he ended up getting really good at basketball. A blessing and a curse of sorts.

A newly minted Nittany Lion, Funk finds himself in the gym working on his game. Now he doesn’t need to be the do-it-all combo guard he was at Bucknell. Now he’s going to work off the ball with one of the best passers in the nation in Jalen Pickett. Now Funk is working on threes, catch and shoot, fading left, fading right, fading away, falling forward. Everything is on the table. It’s fun, it’s a challenge, and he’s loving it again.

Is it still tiring? Probably more than it ever was, but now maybe it’s just a bit more fun again. Funny how that works when the ball is going in the hoop, funny how that works when you fall in love a second time. Suddenly the plans you once had might be the plans you still have. If nothing else you’re open to it.

“Going into college, basketball was definitely a plan afterwards,” Funk said. “I did have my moments where I’m like, oh, maybe I’m done with it. I think it kind of goes into the whole mental side of things. It has been tough being a college basketball player, especially now, I didn’t get exposed to as much in the Patriot League like just like media coverage and whatever. Come to the Big Ten, there’s a lot of stress on you. There’s a lot of pressure and I think a lot of that for me becomes relieved when I’m like, I’m not just a basketball player. I can do a lot of other things and my value as a person isn’t related to me putting the ball in the hoop. I think that’s kind of where it’s like yeah, it’d be great, I would love to keep playing but at the same time, I can do a lot of other things. So I think that’s kind of where that comfort comes in. Where it’s like, yeah, I can see myself going either way. So I think that’s kind of the the reasoning and the realization that I kind of had as I’ve grown up and matured, it’s like, I would love to keep doing it as long as you know, I really want to but at the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world.”

It’s fitting that Funk is taking it all as it happens. The entire endeavor of shooting threes is a bit of casual mindset exercise. You’re going to fail, you’re going to miss. Funk has had his fair share of misses this season even as he sits as No. 32 in the nation in three point percentage this year, the second-best mark in the Big Ten behind teammate Seth Lundy. There is a peace found in the shoulder-shrugging and shot-chucking mentality of a good three-point shooter. Let it fly and whatever happens, happens. For Funk’s own life and basketball there is a bit of that as well. He’s going to play out the rest of the season and then go from there. That’s not to say he doesn’t care about the shots, or care about his life and whatever is next, but there’s something to be said about being at peace with whatever happens next.

Of course when you turn into an elite shooter by mistake it does change the math a bit.

“In the offseason I really got addicted to the progression of it,” Funk said. “We have the shooting machines and they track your makes and your misses. I just love seeing that number go up like 75% to 77% then the next week I’m you know, up in the 80s and you can I stay there. I’ve gotten to the point with it now that when I miss I know exactly how I missed that one, like I didn’t follow through all the way or my footwork was off whatever.”

It’s ironic of course that Funk has gotten himself to this point, a guy who was just about ready to hang it up has never had his goals more within reach than right now and he only has himself to blame for getting so damn good. Now playing in the NBA or playing overseas doesn’t seem like such a farfetched idea, now wanting to play basketball for even longer doesn’t seem like such a punishment. Maybe one more year, maybe two, maybe three, maybe eight. And if the answer is zero? Well, it was a heck of season to have as your final one.

Time will tell, but in the meanwhile Funk is going to let those threes fly and take the rest one shot, and one day, at a time.