Penn State basketball’s trust in Myles Dread propelled the Nittany Lions to a 72-69 victory
Myles Dread had missed all four of his shots prior to Penn State’s last possession Wednesday night. The wing struggled from deep all game and was limited to just nine minutes of on-court action against the VCU Rams. Still, with 8.5 seconds left on the clock after a Nittany Lion timeout, the junior was on the court.
“Myles has a lot of experience,” Penn State interim head coach Jim Ferry said after the game. “He’s got a lot of game experience and he’s got a lot of winning experience in this program. And he’s a guy that we just trust a lot. ... I think everybody trusts Myles.”
Dread ran to the corner as senior guard Jamari Wheeler pump-faked and attacked his defender before finding Dread, wide open. With a defender closing out hard with his right arm extended to block the shot, the junior rose up and fired with less than a half-second on the clock and drilled the 3-pointer to give Penn State a 72-69 victory.
As soon as the ball left Dread’s hands, teammate Kyle McCloskey had already raised his arms in triumph before sprinting onto the court, showing the attribute that will carry the Nittany Lions through the 2020-21 season — trust.
“These guys love each other,” Ferry said. “They trust each other, they play for each other. I think that’s what showed. ... We stayed very poised and we trusted. We trusted each other defensively and we trusted each other offensively. And that’s what this team is right now. That’s what they’re bought into ... I think they’re really good guys, and they really like each other and we’ve got a staff that likes each other and we’re just plugging away.”
It would be easy for this team to be sewn together with threads of distrust. The program lost its head coach in November after Pat Chambers abruptly resigned. Then it has spent weeks not knowing why it happened — as of the team’s media day on Nov. 18, players like Wheeler and Dread said they were still searching for answers.
But through two games, the Nittany Lions remain tied together. They pass the ball well offensively, taking near-equal parts in what is clearly designed as an egalitarian offense. On any given night, any given player can score the most points or take the biggest shots. Wednesday night it was Dread who took the shot, but it was sophomore Seth Lundy who led the scoring effort with a career-high 32 points.
Their belief and love for one another shines through in games like the one over VCU. Players were picking each other up, figuring things out on their own while knowing each teammate on the court is capable of winning the game — especially the one who took the game-winner.
“All four guys on the court were definitely confident in (Myles), including the guys on the bench and the whole staff,” Lundy said. “I knew that shot was just gonna go in. He’s just that type of player. Throughout his career here he’s always hit big-time shots.”
Then there’s the confidence in junior guard Sam Sessoms, who scored 17 points in the game but turned the ball over four times, including twice in two minutes near the end of the game.
Still, Ferry and Sessoms’ teammates believed in the junior guard to get the job done.
“We all love each other,” Sessoms said. “We’ve been through a lot. Ultimately it just shows the trust we have and how much we believe in one another. We all know the work we put in.”
In Sessoms’ instance, he was instilled with the same belief he had in Dread.
“Once he was open and had the last shot, everybody on our team believed it was going in,” Sessoms said. “It shows a lot that Jamari passed him the ball. That’s what our team stands for. We all trust each other and we all believe in one another.”
Without the team’s trust in one another, things may have fallen apart for this Penn State team already even though it’s only played two games. The Nittany Lions have every reason to fall apart in a season enshrouded in uncertainty and devoid of eligibility consequences.
A bad year could easily be explained away by the abrupt coaching change or the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the Nittany Lions look to be a team that will fight through the adversity and try to find a way into the postseason. All because they trust each other and what’s left of the coaching staff.
Trust didn’t make Dread’s shot go in, nor did it pass the ball to him or make Sessoms’ decisions’ better. But it did open the door for a team that no longer has its leader to come together and try to build something — even if it’s only for a year.
