Becoming clutch and embracing his role | PSU Hoops' Myles Dread
In 2009, with the clock winding down and his youth basketball team behind in the game, a 9-year-old Myles Dread took an inbounds pass at the Maryland Invitational Tournament.
He set up on the block and tossed the basketball behind his head.
It went in.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Dread told Nittany Nation, laughing as he recalled the memory. “That was probably my first game-winner ever.”
Fourteen years later, 23-year-old Dread took a swing pass on a play originally designed to get Jalen Pickett a mismatch with Penn State down three in overtime against Iowa.
With 14 seconds left on the clock, Dread had Hawkeye star Keegan Murray in front of him. Dread ball faked, dribbled left, stepped back and ball faked again. He had Murray turned around, but the 6-foot-8 forward’s arm still found its way into Dread’s line of sight.
With nine seconds left in overtime and his team down three, Dread tossed an acrobatic 3-pointer toward the rim.
It went in.
“I kind of got stuck honestly. I drove over, shot faked, he didn't move. I was like 'Uh... uh oh,'” Dread said immediately after Penn State’s double-overtime win over Iowa. “And right when the ball went in I was like, 'Oh, great.'”
Dread said it didn’t even sink in until he ran to the other end of the floor that he had tied the game up, in overtime, against a team that had just stomped him and the Nittany Lions by 17 points just two games ago.
Iowa couldn’t convert at the end of the first period of extra time, and Penn State kept its composure in the second overtime, topping the Hawkeyes after 50 minutes of basketball. The Nittany Lions secured the win in large part thanks to Dread’s 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line in the final 12 seconds of action.
Despite the play at the end of the first overtime originally being drawn up for Pickett, fifth-year senior John Harrar immediately stepped in the huddle and said “Who’s gonna take the big shot? I’ve got Myles.”
Penn State’s undoubted leader had all the confidence in the world in his longtime teammate.
“I told Myles, ‘Bro, just shoot it.’ I’ve been with you four years, I’ve seen six game-winners so far,” Harrar said following the win on Jan. 31. “If there’s any guy on the court, I want you to shoot it. I’m going down with you.”
Harrar was right. Dread has been the guy in crunch time numerous times over his career.
On at least six different occasions since his freshman year, Dread has converted from beyond the arc to take a late lead or ice a victory for his team.
Dread said the Jan. 31 game-tying shot was representative of an evolution of sorts in his crunch-time shooting.
In high school, Dread was the guy his team would turn to to make plays late in the game, but not necessarily the one to take the final shot.
Early in his Penn State career, he was hitting in tie games to give his team the lead with 20-40 seconds left on the clock. His first shot that was “crazy” came in iconic fashion against VCU on Dec. 2, 2020.
Former Penn State guard and current Ohio State Buckeye Jamari Wheeler took one dribble from the top of the key and swung it to Dread, who launched a high, arching shot from deep, over a defenders’ outstretched arm, as red lights flashed on around the hoop.
But the game was tied before he hit the shot. Sure, Dread’s Nittany Lion teammates embraced him after the made basket, but Penn State would have another chance to win it in overtime had he missed.
“The pressure wasn't really there in the same sense that if you're down two, you don't make this shot, you lose,” Dread said. “So I found that was a little bit different. If I didn't make that shot in overtime to go into double overtime, we'd have lost.”
Dread attributes his ability to stay cool in big moments to the amount of time he’s spent in the Big Ten. He’s in his fourth year, and the work he puts in scouting opponents’ film gives him the confidence to execute the game plan down the stretch.
Even though his big shot is the lasting image of Penn State’s win that night, Dread was actually just 3-for-10 from the floor in the game.
In his freshman year, Dread had two opportunities for game-winning shots, first against DePaul and second against Bradley in Cancún, Mexico.
Dread left the first one about “a foot and a half” short on an air ball, and he pushed the second one wide right of the basket.
In the time since the win against Iowa, Dread had the ball in his hands once again, down two with six seconds left and a chance to upset No. 11 Wisconsin on the road. The shot clanked off the back of the rim after a play that didn’t seem to give him as much space as Penn State would’ve liked.
As the famous Michael Jordan quote reads:
“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Or similarly, the Kobe Bryant quote about preferring to go 0-for-30 than 0-for-9, because 0-for-9 means you lost confidence in yourself.
Dread, who acknowledged the times he’s failed, said having that failure makes it a whole lot easier to go back and do what he's done “thousands and thousands of times.”
“It’s not really gaining the confidence, it’s just you never really lose it,” Dread said. “My teammates are gonna find me… I’d probably get in trouble if I didn’t shoot the ball.
“Most of the time, if I catch it with my feet set, I'll feel pretty confident about it, so I just gotta let it fly.”
Dread, a psychology major, hasn’t found out quite yet if there’s something more scientific going on with the essence of being “clutch.”
“I wish I could [study it]. I’m gonna try to find it,” Dread said. “Whatever it is, whether it’s the utmost confidence in yourself, whether it’s focus, whether it’s the way you breathe or… some people just have a natural knack for clutchness.”
But is Dread one of those with a natural knack for the big shot? He doesn’t think so.
“I think I've developed that confidence and that will help my team win in any way possible over time,” Dread said.
His teammate of four years, Harrar, has been with him throughout all of the clutch moments.
But Pickett, someone who’s been Dread’s teammate just since this summer, has already recognized that “Myles is as clutch as they come.”
As soon as Pickett moved in, he said Dread was one of the first ones trying to show him around campus and introducing him to people. Pickett also said he loves having Dread around as a spot-up shooter to boost his assist totals in-game, but as a teammate, he said Dread “just wants to win.”
Dread wasn’t his normal self at the beginning of the year, dealing with injuries and illnesses here and there on top of a long coronavirus pause for the entire team just before the Big Ten schedule started.
He’s still wearing a bulky shoulder brace as he plays, and the Big Ten Network reported during the Iowa game that Dread is set to have shoulder surgery upon the completion of the season, but he didn’t confirm or deny that information. He also put on some weight during the offseason.
Piled on top of playing under Micah Shrewsberry for the first time, the year has been “different” for Dread, but he’s coming into his own as of late. He’s scored nine or more points in four of his last five outings.
“Me now is much, much different than I was at the beginning of the season,” Dread said. “I was dealing with injuries and sicknesses. It was a mess. But I’m a lot better now. Playing a lot better for sure.”
Part of playing better for Dread has been growing under Shrewsberry. He said he’s grown under the first-year coach’s “tutelage” and has the confidence to play the way he wants to now.
Their relationship has grown off the court, too, as Dread said the two often have discussions about not only basketball, but life after basketball.
As the senior from Detroit has slotted in and out of the starting lineup throughout the year, Shrewsberry said it’s indicative of him understanding his role on the team. He can go over to Dread and tell him whether or not he’s starting, explain it, and Dread’s cool with whatever.
“He's been so good at just doing what we've needed at different times,” Shrewsberry said. “Whether he's coming off the bench or [starting], he's always ready to just do his role. And when you have guys like that, that's when you can have a successful team.”
Even through adversity and even if the results weren’t always showing up on the court, it’s clear Dread’s presence is a comforting one for everyone in the program.
When Dread was missing practice during the preseason, Shrewsberry said the one thing they weren’t missing was “Myles’ voice.”
And now, he’s starting to look more like himself.
“It took a little bit of time for him to get to where it is, but I think since Christmas, he's been great for us,” Shrewsberry said. “He's been a big part of every win we've had.”
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