Brad Stevens Praises Ex-Celtics Assistant After Hired By Penn State

Brad Stevens has been answering a lot of questions about college basketball of late.

With many hoping he’ll return to his home state and the NCAA to take over the men’s program at Indiana, the current Boston Celtics coach shut that hypothetical down.

He did, however, use the opportunity to provide some relevant praise for Micah Shrewsberry in his pregame availability ahead of the Celtics’ game against the Utah Jazz.

Stevens’ former assistant, dating back to his time at Butler, will get his first shot at a head coaching job with the Penn State Nittany Lions.

“On a more positive note, I’d rather talk about Micah, to be honest,” transitioning conversation from the Indiana job to Shrewsberry’s accomplishment.

“We’re thrilled, I think the whole Celtics organization and, you know, my family. For us, the Shrewsberrys are not friends, they’re family. And so, for him to get the opportunity to go to Penn State, be named the head coach of Penn State, I had a huge bag of gear arrive in my house because we ordered it right when we found out. I could not be more thrilled for him. Couldn’t be a more deserving person, and a guy that I think will be incredible now that he has his own opportunity.”

After three years with Butler and back-to-back national championship berths, Shrewsburry went on to work under Matt Painter at Purdue before Stevens brought him along to Boston, where the two worked together for six years.

But the relationship between the two Indiana natives is much more personal than that.

“The greatest compliment you can give somebody on a sports team is that they made everyone around them better,” Stevens said.

“And I used to play with Micah and open gyms traveling across the city of Indianapolis when we were 16-17 years old, when we didn’t hardly know each other. And, you know, it was obvious then that he was a guy you wanted to play with because he knew how to play and he’d get everybody the ball and he made his team better. I played against him in college and it was the same thing, and then I worked with at Butler and it was the same thing. And then we both had young families together, and, you know, you’re always there, they’re always there for us. Spending six years with him here, he’s as good as it gets. He’s got great perspective. He’s a great basketball coach. Obviously I think going back to Purdue was a great move for him because it got him back into the mindset and of recruiting and, you know, Matt, let him call the plays and run the offensive at Purdue which tells you a lot about Matt Painter and the way that he approaches things and so, I’m happy for him. I’m really happy for him.”

Shrewsberry returned to Purdue in 2019, and the Boilermakers ranked in the top 25 nationally in offensive efficiency this season with him calling a lot of the plays. Penn State announced him as head coach Monday.