How John Harrar will remember his time with Penn State men’s basketball, and what’s next
John Harrar can laugh about it now. The normally positive, energetic Penn State men’s basketball player lost himself during his final game at the Bryce Jordan Center. He knew pretty quickly what was coming and said as much just over a month later.
But rewind to the days after the contest, and guilt for his emotions were all he felt.
“I could feel the five years ticking like a clock,” he told the Centre Daily Times two days after the loss. “I knew it was my last time in the BJC. I got way too emotional. I apologized the next day because I let my emotions get the best of me. There was still time when I had the freakout to make a run, to punch back.”
Harrar and the Nittany Lions lost the game in spectacular fashion — 93-70 — in a game that was the antithesis of his career at Penn State. He was the team’s leader, the tone-setter, but on that night Harrar let his emotions get the best of him. He lashed out in the huddle and cried on his way to the bench, hugging Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry as he sat down for the final game.
That one-night blip will represent some of what he did in his time as a Nittany Lion — the passion, the love for the program and his teammates — but there was plenty more that went on in his final year of college basketball that will prove what he meant to the program.
His impact was evident to his new coach long before the season began.
‘A culture changer’
“He’s a program builder. He’s a culture changer,” Shrewsberry told the CDT prior to the season. “... He’s gonna help us long after he’s gone. His name will be synonymous with this place. I’ll make sure of that because of who he is. There’s film that will be shown to players long after this of him diving on loose balls, him fighting for offensive rebounds, him sprinting the floor as hard as possible to get back on transition defense. That’s gonna stick around forever. I’ll make sure he’s a guy that is always remembered because of that.”
Now that his time on the Bryce Jordan Center court had come to a close, Harrar had time to reflect on his career.
He recalled memories of his recruitment — like when Connecticut showed late interest after he committed to Penn State, or when he made the decision to decommit from Army football to play basketball.
“I got a call from UConn’s head coach,” Harrar said with a laugh Monday night. “I swear to god. It was after I played Moses Brown. ... We’re playing at like 11 a.m., at 7 a.m. my AAU director knocks on the door. Boom, boom, boom. I got this guy on the phone that wants to talk to you.”
And of his time as a Nittany Lion on the court — like when he told Rutgers fans to go to church this season after they showed how raucous they could be in the team’s regular season finale.
Or the tumultuous 2020-2021 season, when then-head coach Pat Chambers resigned and was replaced by Jim Ferry on an interim basis. Harrar mentioned the difficulty that brought to the team and why he ultimately decided to remain at the university after the season.
“I can remember at the beginning, everyone was worried about the future,” Harrar told the CDT in early March. “That was messing me up. I did not have a good start to that year. It was just mayhem. ... Then last year at Senior Night, it was kinda like, in the back of my head that I wasn’t leaving. ... I kinda knew I wasn’t gonna leave, no matter what happened. There was something in me that was like, ‘you’re still gonna be here.’”
There were the matchups with close friend and former teammate Jamari Wheeler, who laughed as he told teammates Harrar would miss at least one free throw during the Big Ten Tournament matchup between Penn State and Ohio State — just before the Nittany Lion sank both.
Looking toward the future
And of course he pondered what is next. Whether that be a potential career in football if he decides he wants to put the weight on to play offensive tackle, or a career overseas playing basketball where his skillset could be utilized as a big, bruising rebounder.
And there’s the last option, too, which might be the most desirable — getting into coaching and working his way through the ranks off the court around the game he loves.
But while his career may be over and he’s considering what comes next, he’s already hopeful for what will happen with the program he’s leaving. He said after the team’s last game of the season — a quarterfinal loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament — that Braeden Shrewsberry, Micah’s son and a 2023 commitment to the program, would lead the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten title.
Harrar reiterated that confidence one more time Monday night.
“It’s all speaking it into existence,” Harrar said with a smile.
“How dope would that be?”
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
