When Devin Foster committed to Penn State on the Sunday of Blue-White weekend 2014, most thought the junior college transfer would be an insurance policy - not for incoming freshman Shep Garner - but for D.J. Newbill, who was expected to start the season at lead guard. That was the prevailing thought up until about 20 minutes before Penn State opened their season against Morgan State, until Garner's name appeared on the lineup sheet.
Young Shep had an eventful debut season in State College, to say the least. He was responsible for one of the most intuitive/batshit insane plays you'll ever see in a basketball game, when he did this against Virginia Tech in the B1G/ACC challenge:
He's also responsible for Penn State's fan sighting of the year:
@EditorEdge @coachjfranklin My cousin shep garner #33 is point guard for Penn St I came to see him play so I think my choice is verry wise
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) January 17, 2015
It's gonna be really tough for Shep to produce this much #viral #content in his sophomore season, but improving on his historic freshman season on the court will be a major factor in the long-term success of Pat Chambers' program.