Column: Dread's Perseverance Proves Critical to Penn State's Run of Success

Myles Dread had no doubt.

Meeting with the media following Penn State's 58-49 loss to Wisconsin on Jan. 11 at the Bryce Jordan Center, a game in which the Nittany Lions' sophomore guard missed all five of his field-goal attempts, Dread’s eyes were bloodshot and worn. That he stepped into the room and up to the podium to take questions in such a challenging circumstance was a story in itself.

Calm and composed, he made no excuses for his personally disappointing performance or his team’s second loss in as many games. But, Dread assured the room of reporters and anyone else willing to listen, his faith had not been shaken.

“My confidence isn't going to go anywhere,” he said. “I’m going to continue to shoot the ball because that's my job. I'm going to continue to do my job.”

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At that moment, though, Dread’s best intentions weren’t enough to upend a particularly cold shooting spell.

Beginning with an 0 of 6 display against Cornell to close out the nonconference slate in December, Dread went without a made field goal in four of five games. From deep, that made for a streak of just 2 of 23, capped by another 0-for-2 performance in a loss at Minnesota in which he’d also lost his starting role, relegating him to just 11 minutes off the bench.

At the time, the numbers dipped Dread to just 30 of 107 for the season (28.0 percent), leaving head coach Patrick Chambers to make a blunt assessment of his critical importance to the team.

“When Myles is going, he's making threes, and he's making great plays for everybody. He did that in the last four minutes of Iowa, he had four assists to lead us to victory there,” Chambers said. “But he's got to make some threes. There's no doubt about it. We need him to do that because he'll space the floor. And that way our drivers have more space out there, which we had early on. That's why we were scoring at such a high clip. We were making some shots and guys were spaced. Back to the drawing board. We'll keep working hard. I know he will.”

Exactly one month later, Dread’s full-circle perseverance was on full display in an 88-76 win for the Nittany Lions at Purdue.

Absent the team’s second-leading scorer, sophomore guard Myreon Jones, Dread’s 4 of 5 shooting performance from beyond-the-arc helped propel Penn State to its third win, ever, at Mackey Arena.

And his makes could not have been more impactful.

Hitting his first 3-point attempt in the game’s opening minutes, Dread helped fulfill one of Chambers’ primary objectives for the road trip. Sensing no room to fall behind against a team and building always ready to erupt at the start of games, Dread’s first contribution was an important one. With the final minute of the first half playing out sans Lamar Stevens, who’d been benched with two fouls for the latter part of the half, another Dread 3-pointer lifted the Nittany Lions to their largest lead of the half at 42-28.

The second-half story would hold the same themes as Dread sent home his 14:08 attempt to extend the Nittany Lions’ lead to 24, their largest of the game, and again with 7 minutes, 34 seconds to play to stifle an 11-2 Purdue run.

Juxtaposed against his postgame comments a month earlier, Dread’s 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists were a manifestation of the confidence he’d originally refused to relinquish in the face of ongoing struggles.

“I mean, sometimes the ball just doesn't go in,” Dread said. “I shoot thousands and thousands of shots, hundreds of shots a day, thousands of shots a week, but I've done enough repetition to know as soon as I release the ball if it's in or not. So (I’ll) just get back in the gym tomorrow and shoot some more and keep doing what I've been doing my whole life.”

Helping to extend Penn State’s winning streak to a record seven games against Big Ten opponents, while keeping the Nittany Lions in second place in the conference standings, and adding to their NCAA Tournament resume with their seventh Quad 1 win of the season, Dread’s current numbers stand in stark contrast to the cold spell that coincided with Penn State's lone losing streak of the year.

Through Penn State’s recent stretch of seven wins, he’s made 16 of 37 shots from deep (42.3 percent) and 20 of 46 from the floor (43.4 percent). Dread has contributed 26 rebounds and 11 assists. And, maybe most important, he’s also stepped back into his starting role in the two-game illness absence of Jones.

The recent performances also stand as a reminder of the foundational principles that have guided the Nittany Lions, as a team, into the success they currently enjoy. Refusing to panic when it’d be easiest in the midst of a slump, or become complacent in the face of success, Dread’s January mantra remains as true now as it was then.

“I'm going to get back in the gym tomorrow, shoot some more shots, and move on,” he said. “I'll continue to play hard, play defense, rebound and take charges. Do the little things, and the ball will find its way into the basket.”

For Dread, amid Penn State’s historic run, it has.

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