NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - PENN STATE VS TEXAS

March 18, 2023

Micah Shrewsberry

Myles Dread

Seth Lundy

Jalen Pickett

Wells Fargo Arena

Penn State Nittany Lions

Media Conference

Texas - 71, Penn State - 66

THE MODERATOR: Pleased to be joined by head coach of Penn State, Micah Shrewsberry, student-athletes, Myles Dread, Seth Lundry and Jalen Pickett. Coach, your thoughts on the game?

MICAH SHREWSBERRY: Congratulations to Texas. Just a hard-fought battle. I felt like we -- they were really good. Dylan Disu was really good, and I thought this is the first time they've kinda -- somebody has cracked the code of our ball screen defense here recently and he got into the middle and made a bunch of plays. But credit to those other guys around him.

They have shooting around him, they have cutting. Their defense is good. It took us a little bit to adjust to their defense, but, you know, once we got to the second half, we started getting better and better looks, better and better shots. I think if we could have been a little bit better early on, we could have kept it there where we wanted to. Credit to them. Our guys played unbelievably hard and I'm so incredibly proud of them.

Q. For Seth and Myles, I know this is fresh, it just happened, but I wonder if you guys have an appreciation for what you were able to accomplish given where the program was just a couple of years ago.

SETH LUNDY: Absolutely I feel like we have accomplished a lot from the past history and stuff, but we wanted to go so much farther. This is not where we wanted the journey to end. We believe we could have made a better run than this, but give credit to Texas. They're a great team and they may have a chance to win it all, honestly.

You know, just wearing this jersey means so much to me and I know it means so much to Myles as well. I feel like the future is bright for Penn State.

MYLES DREAD: I mean, yeah, I have an extreme appreciation for the season. Just sitting back, taking it all in, like, you know, my goal coming to Penn State was to leave it better than I left it and I feel like we did that, we accomplished that for sure. At this point, you know, we're not going to stop and I know Coach Shrewsberry is not going to stop and the sky is the limit.

Q. Jalen, there was a point there where you guys were down 11 early in the second half, looked like they were in control of the game and then it looked to me as if they finally -- I mean, that was incredible defense they played the first 24 minutes, but it looked like they finally got a little bit fatigued. Did you see that at all and see an opening for you? Because then you made the run.

JALEN PICKETT: No, that's the team we have been all year. We will get down, but we come back and --

Q. I mean was Texas getting tired?

JALEN PICKETT: I don't know if they got tired or not. I just know our energy picked up and we started playing our game and for that minute that's what made us go on a run and take the lead.

Q. Myles, you have played more games than anybody in Penn State history. What does it mean to you when you reflect on your career? What does it mean to you to wear that uniform every day?

MYLES DREAD: I mean, I wear this blue and white with pride. I'm so, so thankful for everything this university has ever given me, for the people I've met, the relationships I've built.

And I guess I've always been a school spirit kinda guy. So I definitely have taken that with stride. These guys to my right and Coach Shrews, you know, my teammates from past years as well, I will never forget those memories. Those guys know that they can always call me and they have a friend in me.

Q. Through all the highs and lows that you guys experienced in Happy Valley, what do you hope Penn Staters remember about you? What did you want your legacy to be?

JALEN PICKETT: You know, we just were able to get Penn State to the Tournament. I hope our legacy is it's the first team that got them here in a while and I hope they get here a bunch of times after this.

MYLES DREAD: I want them to know I gave it everything I had. I ran the clock dry and I had fun doing it.

SETH LUNDY: Most importantly, you know, I feel for the fans. They've been waiting for a moment like this for a long time. I feel like we had a good run. We had a lot of ups and downs, but we made things work out through the end of the season. I hope they just remember us for giving it all that we got and just to let them know that this -- there's going to be a lot more coming in the future. What Coach Shrews is doing and the freshman group we have now, they're going to made huge strides in the future and he's going to continue to bring in more great players in the future, being the great coach that he is.

Q. Micah, when Lundy had the run out and put you up three and they called timeout, how did you feel right then?

MICAH SHREWSBERRY: I told our guys at that moment that, you know, it wasn't a moment to celebrate, because I thought -- I had just been waiting for that. That's where, like, we believe so much in each other, that's where we were supposed to be. That's where we were supposed to be.

So I wasn't surprised. We've been down before and these guys come back every single time. They fight every single time. We just couldn't finish it, we couldn't close it and they went on that last kick, that finishing run where we had some open shots and missed them and they hit some tough shots. I wasn't surprised at all. I knew that's right where we would be when the time called for it.

Q. Micah, the guys touched on this, but it's been a while since Penn State has been here and it's not been to this level often. How sustainable is this for your program? Is it sustainable?

MICAH SHREWSBERRY: I told these guys after the game, like, you can't take this for granted, right? I've been in programs that they go to the tournament every single year and it looks really easy from the outside, but nobody knows or appreciates the hard work that they put in. It's these guys, like, what they're doing, the hard work that they put in to get here.

It's been a joy for me to just be on this ride with them and watch 'em, and watch what they've accomplished.

I'm sure there will be something that will come out at some point in time about the number of records that this team broke or set or tied or what. They were special. I didn't want to stop. I want to practice again, I want to play again because this group is, like, they deserve it. They deserve it for all the work that they put in that nobody sees, nobody recognizes.

It looks easy. It looks easy, but when you put the time, when you put the work in, when you put the right group of people together you can do special things and all credit to these guys for doing something special this year.

Q. For the players and Coach, what do you say to those fans who watched this run by Penn State? Is this going to be more sustainable, like, every other year? Secondly, do you think you sent a message to the rest of the nation that Penn State basketball is back?

MICAH SHREWSBERRY: Yeah, I mean, you want it to be sustainable, right? Like, we're not going to be satisfied with this. It's like, all right, cool, let's -- ten years from now let's go back to the tournament. No, we worked for it every single day. There's a lot that goes into it. Like I said, you gotta have the right people, you gotta have the right mix of guys, you gotta have the right work ethic and then things can fall into place. That's what we're gearing up to do and that's what we're trying to do each and every year. These guys aren't satisfied, the young guys aren't satisfied with being here one time and setting a bunch of school records and everything else. We're all competitors. You want to win.

Like, I hate losing just as much as anybody else. So, you know.

SETH LUNDY: I feel like this team in particular definitely laid down a foundation for Penn State in the future. Like I said before, it's been a long time, but, you know, with Coach Shrews here and his knowledge of the game and the group of freshman that we have now, trust me those guys are hungry and they're working every single day. I've seen growth in all 5 of them and they want to be here every single year. I talked to them after the game. They said we're going to be back, like they said, Penn State is going to be back to the tournament. So I believe in those guys and I believe in Coach Shrews and the future of this program.

MYLES DREAD: I mean, yeah, I don't know anybody in the country that would sit there and say no it's not sustainable. I think that, like Seth said, trusting in Coach Shrews, trusting in the system, coming in, day in, day out, working your tail off, only good things can happen.

JALEN PICKETT: Yeah, I just want the Penn State fans to come out next year and pack the BJC for those guys. They're going to work hard this summer. We had a bunch of new kids return. I definitely think they will be back next year and I want them to come out and support those guys.

Q. I know you guys are just destroyed, but can you assess how good Texas was? Was that the best team you've played all year, playing the best brand you've played?

SETH LUNDY: Texas is a really good team. I don't know who the best team we played all year is, but I do know that we've never played against a big man with that type of touch. I don't remember him missing not one floater.

He would do it from 10 feet, 15 feet, 5 feet. He made it every single time, and you know with his height and his length and athleticism as guards, and we play small, it was hard to contest it. Even when we did come up and contest it, it was hard to contest it. But give credit to them. They have a really good group of guys. They have guys that can shoot and guys that can make plays for themselves with their guards, and I feel like they have the pretty good bigs as well. I think they can definitely make a run in this tournament.

MYLES DREAD: I think they're an excellent team; they're well coached. I think that they do things on offense and put guys in certain places to play to their strengths, and I think they did that very well.

I don't know who the best -- like Seth said, I don't know who the best team we have played this year is. We've played against amazing teams all year, so I don't know if I can tell you. Playing in the Big Ten you're playing great teams night in and night out, but they're in the conversation. How about that?

JALEN PICKETT: They're a good team. I don't know who the best team is we played.

Q. Micah, as the three guys to your right take off their Penn State jersey for the final time, what do those three guys mean to you?

MICAH SHREWSBERRY: Yeah. I told those guys, you know, like Seth and Myles, they didn't have to stay. They didn't have to stay. They chose the -- they chose the hard route, right? There was two routes to take. There was the easy route and there was the hard route. They chose the hard route.

Those guys and the way that I talk about John, I hold those two guys just in that esteemed category as I do with John, because these guys took a chance on me and they didn't have to. Wherever they are, like, playing, whatever they're doing, like, they know, like, they can call me in forever, right? Like, these are my guys forever, because they did; they took a chance on me, and they didn't have to. They didn't have to.

Pickett is, like -- he did the same. He chose to come here, and I had never coached a game before. He repaid that by letting me sit and watch the season that he's had, and what he's done this year, how he's helped us. These guys have all been fantastic.

This entire team -- but Jalen Pickett just put together one of the most sensational seasons in Penn State history, history, like college basketball history. It's a travesty that somebody didn't vote him First-Team All Conference. It was one of the most moronic things I've seen in all my life.

How can you watch what this dude did for 20 games and not think he's one of the best ten players in the league, one of the ten best players in the conference, one of the ten best players in the country. They know how I feel about them.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.