Last Thursday, Micah Shrewsberry added a special prospect to his 2023 recruiting class.
That day, Shrewsberry’s son, Braeden, had officially pledged to play for his father at Penn State.
There’s something Shrewin in Happy Valley 😉 #WeAre pic.twitter.com/vS76YxSry7
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) November 24, 2021
Braeden has grown up in and out of locker rooms, moving around the country wherever his dad was coaching at the time. Now, a 6-foot-2 junior in high school, he is ready to take his game to the next level and finally play for his father for the first time.
“He really just tried to make me as complete a player as possible,” Shrewsberry told Nittany Sports Now. “As far as I can remember, we would always start with the fundamentals and he would always teach me how important shooting really was. One of the main aspects of my game is shooting, and then just being really skilled, like ball handling, finishing, just having the full package is something we’ve really worked on.”
Braeden Shrewsberry @BraedenShrews HAD IT COOKING Goes for 21pts and helps lead Indians Elites 16U to Run and Slam Championship @Coach_Shrews @IndianaElite @indyheatgymrats #billhensleyrunnslam #indianaeite #inthegymhoops pic.twitter.com/upvnXy2Qu5
— In The Gym Hoops (@inthegymhoops_) May 3, 2021
Shrewsberry has been with his father all the way around the country at each of his coaching stops, which included Butler, Purdue, the Boston Celtics, and now, Penn State.
“I would always come after the games and go down to the locker room,” he said. “Especially when he was with the Celtics, I would always go on road trips and stuff. We would always shoot on the court before the game, go back to the locker room, be on the bus, so that was a really good experience.”
While his father was coaching at Butler, Braeden remembers, he spent lots of time around Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack, and all of the other members of the 2010 National Championship runner-up team. Then came Purdue, where he looked up to Robbie Hummel, Rapheal Davis, and other Boilermakers. Lastly, Boston, where Braeden says he remembers hanging out with Isaiah Thomas, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, and more.
Making all of these different stops, surely Braeden has seen multiple different levels of basketball as well as multiple different cultures around teams. Now, after being around his father’s group at Penn State, what stood out about this program that made him want to stay home and play in State College?
“I would say the fan base,” he said. “Coming down on football Saturdays and seeing how many people tailgate and go to the games, you can tell the people here love Penn State. A lot of people that go here, stay here and live here.”
While Braeden has grown up in locker rooms at the highest level of basketball for his whole life, what has he learned the most from his dad off the court?
“Always treat people the right way, he always teaches me to do that,” Shrewsberry said. “He always says you never know who is sitting next to you in class. People he grew up with are now CEOs of companies, you know, the president of the Celtics. Just having connections, because you never know who’s going to be sitting next to you.”
So far, Shrewsberry is the lone commitment in Penn State’s 2023 class. However, his father just brought in the No. 24 class in the nation for 2022. Behind that class, headlined by Kebba Nije, and his son, Micah Shrewsberry looks to be turning the program in the right direction.
“I can bring whatever the team needs me to do,” Braeden said. “Obviously, my shooting and scoring ability, but being team-first, making the right play, and knowing the game well. I have been around the game for as long as I can remember, so I have a good basketball IQ.”
