Published: July 27, 2008 12:22 am      

Something ‘Special’: Shrewsberry jumps at chance to be a Bulldog

Micah Shrewsberry already had a great job. He really didn’t feel like he needed to move.

He was a young up-and-comer who had already landed his first college basketball head coaching job at Indiana University South Bend before he even turned 30.

“In all honesty, where I was, it was great for me and for my family,” said Shrewsberry, a former resident of Jeffersonville. “To leave there, it would have to have been for something special.”

It didn’t take long for that something special to arrive.

Just two seasons after Shrewsberry began coaching at IUSB, Butler University installed Brad Stevens as its head men’s basketball coach. Stevens, in turn, was quick to ask Shrewsberry to join his staff as the director of basketball operations.

But last week that opportunity became even bigger for Shrewsberry, as Stevens tabbed Shrewsberry as an assistant head coach. He will replace Brandon Miller, who departed to join coach Thad Matta’s staff at Ohio State University.

“Coming to Butler, I really did not envision something like this happening so quickly,” Shrewsberry said. “I was comfortable and happy coaching at IU South Bend. I had two very, very good years there.

“When Brad contact me about the position at Butler, I just saw an opportunity. I don’t even think I fully understood how special this program was until I became a part of it. To be at a program that has grown to an elite national level. I’m very fortunate because in a short period of time, I’ve been able to move up to a new position — one that you dream of being in as a basketball coach.”

The enthusiasm for Bulldog basketball is understandable. It provided Shrewsberry a chance to join a program that has blossomed into one of the best in the nation.

Butler went 30-4 a season ago and was nationally ranked for 19 consecutive weeks. The Bulldogs captured the Great Alaska Shootout championship, the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles and posted a first-round NCAA Tournament win.

Since the 1999-2000 season, Butler has tallied an overall record of 208-81 and made five appearance in the NCAA Tournament — two of which that concluded in the “Sweet 16”.

“We’re gladly following a path that was carved by all of the former great coaches at this school,” said Shrewsberry. “From Coach (Barry) Collier, to (Thad) Matta to (Todd) Lickliter, this school has had nothing but excellent head coaches — and coach Stevens is right there on his way to continuing that tradition.”



Road warrior

Shrewsberry didn’t have much time to adjust to his new position with the Bulldogs. Promoted by Stevens on July 18, he was thrust right into the heart of the NCAA’s July Evaluation Period — a month where coaches and their staffs are allowed to travel across the country and observe prospects at various Elite AAU tournaments and camps.

Shrewsberry spent the early part of last week in Las Vegas — attending a coaching clinic on his first day and following that up with a visit to a national AAU event.

He flew home on Wednesday, where he spent half a day with his wife and children before boarding a plane and heading to Orlando for yet another AAU function.

“The wives basically have to know what July is all about,” said Shrewsberry. “I may spend four days at home the entire month, but luckily we have 11 more months during the year to prepare for this.”

The job for coaches is easier when players take notice of your program. And the recent national exposure the Bulldogs have garnered has made them the sort of elite program that makes players take notice.

“Kids know about us now,” Shrewsberry said. “They know where we are and what we’ve been able to do. You feel good as a coach when you know that, when you reach that level.”



Still a Jeff kid

The son of former Jeff city councilman William Shrewsberry, Micah had two sisters who attended Jeff High and he dreamed to one day be a member of the Red Devil hoops program.

“They loved basketball,” he said. “I loved it there and I was going to play at the school growing up.”

That plan changed when the family left the area prior to his first day of high school and Shrewsberry spent his prep career at Indianapolis Cathedral. He then became a three-year starter at Hanover College and received a Master’s Degree from Indiana State University.

“A lot of my mother’s family is still there (in Jeff) and as a family we still have so many friends in that area,” Shrewsberry said. “Last season, we crossed paths twice with Louisville on our schedule and I saw so many people I knew who were following them.

“In a lot of ways Jeff is still home to me. I have nothing but great memories there.”



Shrewsberry’s coaching rise

1999-2000 — University of Indianapolis (graduate assistant)

2000-01 — Assistant coach, Wabash

2001-03 — Assistant coach DePauw University

2003—05 — Director of Basketball Operations, Marshall University

2005-07 — Head coach, Indiana University South Bend

2007-08 — Director of basketball operations, Butler University

July 2008 — Assistant basketball coach, Butler University