The word “optimism” has almost always meant something a little different when the topic turns to Penn State men’s basketball.
If you’re not an optimistic person by nature, you probably aren’t investing much emotional capital into the Nittany Lions, they of the three* NCAA tournament appearances in their entire Big Ten history, each winter. And if you are, in most years you’re clinging to little more than optimism as March approaches and Penn State’s resume seems to be a win or two or five short (*-yes, it would be four if not for COVID-19 … but that’s still not a great number).
But after a bumpy start this fall, and during a time of year when the Nittany Lions’ football counterparts have done very little to inspire optimism of their own, Micah Shrewsberry and his first Penn State team are, without a lot of fanfare or flash, rewarding that loyal-to-a-fault section of the fanbase with some reasons to be optimistic about the near future – and maybe even the present, too.
