I think the right guy makes it easier to do some of the other stuff. Players want to play for him, boosters want to get behind him, fans want to show up, etc. People want to watch them on TV, etc. But it still comes down to school support, especially the administration. The coach can only do so much.
...
PSU Hoops as Sisyphus plays out again. I think Shrewsberry had generated some of that momentum this season, and it could have built up support if he had stayed. Now we roll back down the mountain again.
We've seen this when Parkhill left, when the Crispin brothers left, when Talor Battle left, and again now with our four seniors leaving. PSU has made the tournament in '91, '95, '01, '11, and '21 and each time with a senior laden team that then immediately suffered a rough break to stop any momentum.
'91 -- team kicked out of A10 and plays as an independent, unable to follow up on previous year's tournament success
'95 -- transition from Parkhill to Dunn kicks in, team relies on a freshman point guard the next season when doesn't pan out and then leaves. IIRC, a key injury to Stephens the following year at the NIT also prevents any momentum from building.
'01 -- team loses four starters, and apparently a key recruit (or at least a chance at one) because of a delay in renewing Dunn. {'01 trivia --> Lavell Blanchard had PSU in his 2000 final four schools and visited PSU. He was a 5* and if PSU could have reeled him in, he would have been a freshmen in the 00-01 lineup with the team that went to the sweet 16. Imagine how far that team with Blanchard might have gone}
'11 -- Talor's senior year. The real killer was missing the tournament despite having a really good year in 2009 (were on the wrong side of the bubble despite 20+ wins). Coach leaves after this season and PSU starts over.
'20 - Team never gets to go to the NCAA because of COVID, following year IIRC the whole Chambers controversy begins leading to a sloppy coaching transition and a bunch of players transferring out
'23 - Coach Shrew has to essentially start over, with only Harrah, Dread, and a couple of others staying. He builds the team up to what it was at the end of this year, then bolts. Now players are entering portal and recruits are re-opening commitments.
Most people don't appreciate the weird cycles this program has gone through, they just know that (a) we've rarely been any good; and (b) the Admin hasn't really tried to put the school's full weight behind the program. {OK, in 1978 be brought Dick Harter in, and that was an honest try, but he didn't get the job done - again breaks - this is when the BigEast turned PSU down}
