Penn State will have to wait a bit longer to know the decisions of seniors Myles Dread and Sam Sessoms, both eligible to return in 2022-23 due to an extra year of eligibility as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everybody needs a minute to kind of get away from each other I think,” Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said on Tuesday. “You spent so much time with each other every day from the start of the summer, and then you get a couple of weeks off and then the start of the fall. So we’ll get together and have more in-depth meetings in terms of what those guys want to do with their futures.”
Both Dread and Sessoms found themselves predictably a big focal point of Penn State’s offense this past season. Sessoms, in particular, proved a steady hand at point guard and was often a reliable finisher around the rim, finishing the year averaging just over 11 points per game.
As for Dread, the streaky shooting three-point ace averaged just over six points per game but played the majority of the season with shoulder issues. The senior was also reliable on the defensive end of the floor. Dread shot 35% from three this season which was the second-highest mark of his career. He scored 12 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc in Penn State’s second round win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament.
The two could join fellow longtime Nittany Lion Seth Lundy, who struggled in Penn State’s eventual quarterfinals loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament but is likely an important piece fo the Nittany Lions’ success in 2022-23.
“That was the first thing that that I really said to these guys in locker room was like remember this pain and remember this hurt and how this feels? Because you have to use this to really drive you to prepare yourself to be better,” Shrewsberry said. “That kid [Lundy] cares man. He cares about his teammates, you know, he cares about the team, cares about being better as a player and doing what he can do to help us. We’ll use all of that as motivation to try and make him the best player that he can be next year.”
With some level of uncertainty in the cards for that particular trio, Penn State and Shrewsberry already know that they will have the services of rising senior guard Jalen Pickett. The Nittany Lions second-leading scorer announced his intentions to return to Penn State after the Big Ten Tournament. Pickett, who averaged just over 13 points per game, was a clutch late-shot-clock shooter and proved to be reliable around the basket with his finishing and midrange game. The Siena transfer was among the most coveted prospects in the transfer portal last offseason.
“I’ve kind of always known since since he arrived [that he would return] and when we recruited him, that’s something that was part of what he wanted to do,” Shrewsberry said. “He wants to finish up and graduate; he wants to maximize his time here and really, you know, spend time getting better with us and competing in the Big Ten. …Now with him coming back it gives us a good cornerstone to start with.”
As for any additions beyond five incoming freshmen in Penn State’s highest rated recruiting class of all-time, Shrewsberry anticipates looking to the transfer portal, but with far less enthusiasm than what he had last summer as the Nittany Lions looked to fill numerous roster spots.
“You really do it in kind of needs based,” Shrewsberry said. “…We have five freshmen coming in. We recruited those guys. I know everything about those guys. …The transfer portal is a little bit different because it’s like speed dating. So you may get a guy and you don’t know everything about him. You don’t get a chance to spend as much time with them. So it’s a gamble whether or not you try and build around that every single year. There could be issues that you run into. So we want to do it on the needs-based basis to fill spots that we may need and for next year’s team.”
Penn State and Shrewsberry will likely look at all positions in the portal, but with the departures of big men John Harrar and Greg Lee, the Nittany Lions will likely search for size over everything as the first year of the Shrewsberry era rolls into its first true offseason.
