Penn State Nittany Lions basketball
Men's basketball team of Penn State University
Penn State Nittany Lions University Pennsylvania State University First season 1896–97 Head coach Mike Rhoades (2nd Season)Conference Big Ten Location University Park, Pennsylvania Arena Bryce Jordan Center (capacity: 15,261)Nickname Nittany Lions Student section Legion of Blue Colors Blue and white[ 1]
1954 1942, 1954 1952, 1954, 1955, 2001 1991, 2001, 2023 1942, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1965, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2011, 2023 Atlantic 10: 1991 Eastern Collegiate League West: 1977
The Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing the Pennsylvania State University . They play home games at the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center , moving there from Rec Hall during the 1995–96 season. Their student cheering section is known as the Legion of Blue .
The team played its first season of basketball in 1897, finishing with a 1-1 record after playing Bucknell twice. They lost the first game 4-24, and won the second 10-7. The team went without a formal head coach until Burke Hermann in 1916.[ 2]
The program has ten NCAA tournament appearances with its best finish coming in 1954 , reaching the Final Four . Its most recent appearance was in 2023 , when the team beat Texas A&M in the first round. The program also has 11 appearances in the National Invitation Tournament , with the most recent being in 2018 , when they beat Utah to win the NIT championship. They also won the NIT championship in 2009 .
Current coaching staff
Coaching history
Coach
Years
Seasons
Record
Pct.
Cnf. Record
Pct.
Cnf. Titles
Nat. Titles
NCAA Appearances
No coach
1897–1915, 1917–1918
20
131–65–1
.668
0
Burke M. "Dutch" Hermann
1916–1918, 1919–32
15
148–73
.716
0
Hugo Bezdek
1919
1
11–2
.846
0
Earl Leslie
1933–36
4
29–28
.509
0–10
.000
0
0
John Lawther
1937–49
13
150–93
.617
17–13
.567
0
0
1
Elmer Gross
1949–54
5
80–40
.667
0
2
John Egli
1954–68
14
187–135
.581
0
2
Johnny Bach
1968–78
10
122–121
.502
9–11
.450
0
0
0
Dick Harter
1978–83
5
79–61
.564
13–11
.564
0
0
0
Bruce Parkhill
1983–95
12
181–169
.517
82–116
.414
1
0
1
Jerry Dunn
1995–2003
8
117–121
.492
45–87
.341
0
0
2
Ed DeChellis
2003–2011
8
114–138
.452
41–95
.301
0
0
1
Pat Chambers
2011–2020
9
148–150
.497
56–110
.337
0
0
0
Jim Ferry
2020–2021
1
11–14
.440
7–12
.368
0
0
0
Micah Shrewsberry
2021–2023
2
37–31
.544
17–23
.425
0
0
1
Mike Rhoades
2023–Present
1
15–16
.484
9–11
.450
0
0
0
Totals
1897–present
125
1560–1257–1
.555
296–499
.372
1
0
10
Postseason
NCAA tournament results
The Nittany Lions have appeared in the NCAA tournament 10 times. Their combined record is 10–11.
Year
Seed
Round
Opponent
Result
1942
Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game
DartmouthIllinois
L 39–44W 41–34
1952
Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game
Kentucky NC State
L 54–82 L 60–69
1954
First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd Place Game
Toledo LSU Notre Dame La SalleUSC
W 62–50W 78–70W 71–63 L 54–69W 70–61
1955
First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game
Memphis StateIowa Kentucky
W 59–55 L 53–82 L 59–84
1965
First Round
Princeton
L 58–60
1991
#13
First Round Second Round
#4 UCLA #12 Eastern Michigan
W 74–69 L 68–71 OT
1996
#5
First Round
#12 Arkansas
L 80–86
2001
#7
First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen
#10 Providence #2 North Carolina #11 Temple
W 69–59W 82–74 L 72–84
2011
#10
First Round
#7 Temple
L 64–66
2023
#10
First Round Second Round
#7 Texas A&M #2 Texas
W 76–59 L 66–71
NIT results
The Nittany Lions have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 11 times. Their combined record is 27–9. They were NIT champions in 2009 and 2018.
Year
Round
Opponent
Result
1966
First Round
San Francisco
L 77–89
1980
First Round
Alabama
L 49–53
1989
First Round Second Round
Murray State Villanova
W 89–73 L 67–76
1990
First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game
Marquette Maryland Rutgers Vanderbilt New Mexico
W 57–54W 80–78W 58–55 L 62–75W 83–81
1992
First Round
Pittsburgh
L 65–67
1995
First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game
Miami (FL) Nebraska Iowa Marquette Canisius
W 62–56W 65–59W 67–64 L 79–81W 66–62
1998
First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
Rider Dayton Georgia Tech Georgia Minnesota
W 82–68W 77–74W 77–70W 66–60 L 72–79
2000
First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game
Princeton Siena Kent StateNotre Dame NC State
W 55–41W 105–103W 81–74 L 52–73W 74–72
2006
Opening Round
Rutgers
L 71–76
2009
First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
George Mason Rhode IslandFlorida Notre Dame Baylor
W 77–73 OT W 83–72W 71–62W 67–59W 69–63
2018
First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
Temple Notre Dame Marquette Mississippi State Utah
W 63–57W 73–63W 85–80W 75–60 W 82–66
CBI results
The Nittany Lions have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once. Their record is 1–1.
Year
Round
Opponent
Result
2014
First Round Quarterfinals
Hampton Siena
W 69–65 L 52–54
Statistical Leaders
1,000 Point Scorers
Rank
Player
Points
Years
Rank
Player
Points
Years
Rank
Player
Points
Years
1
Talor Battle
2,213
2007-2011
17
John Amaechi
1,310
1992-1995
33
Gyasi Cline-Heard
1,058
1997-2001
2
Lamar Stevens+
2,207
2016-2020
18
Brandon Taylor
1,289
2012-2016
34
Steve Kuhn
1,057
1976-1980
3
Jesse Arnelle
2,138
1951-1955
19
Calvin Booth
1,288
1995-1999
35
James Barnes
1,025
1987-1991
4
Joe Crispin
1,986
1997-2001
20
Seth Lundy
1,283
2019-2023
36
Tony Ward
1,020
1984-1988
5
D.J. Newbill
1,812
2012-2015
21
Dan Earl
1,256
1993-1999
37
Mike Edelman
1,019
1978-1982
6
Shep Garner
1,629
2014-2018
22
Monroe Brown
1,244
1988-1992
38
Gene Harris
1,018
1959-1962
7
Pete Lisicky
1,605
1994-1998
23
Ron Brown
1,184
1972-1974
39
Mike Lang
1,014
1979-1983
8
Jamelle Cornley
1,579
2005-2009
24
Mike Watkins
1,171
2016-2020
40
Jeff Miller
1,008
1974-1978
9
DeRon Hayes
1,570
1989-1993
25
Carver Clinton
1,165
1963-1966
10
Tim Frazier
1,543
2009-2014
26
Tony Carr
1,161
2016-2018
11
Geary Claxton
1,542
2004-2008
27
Mark DuMars
1,139
1958-1961
12
Tom Hovasse
1,459
1985-1989
28
Myles Dread
1,097
2018-2023
13
Jarrett Stephens
1,372
1995-2000
29
Bob Weiss
1,091
1962-1965
14
Titus Ivory
1,369
1996-2001
30
Jeff Persson
1,090
1965-1968
15
Freddie Barnes
1,342
1988-1992
31
Josh Reaves
1,079
2015-2019
16
Ed Fogell
1,329
1985-1990
32
Jalen Pickett
1,068
2021-2023
+ 2020 B1G Tournament and 2020 NCAA Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic.
** denotes active player.
Assists
Rank
Player
Assists
Years
Rank
Player
Assists
Years
1
Tim Frazier
641
2009-2014
11
Jalen Pickett
378
2021–2023
2
Freddie Barnes
600
1988-1992
12
Ron Brown
350
1972-1974
3
Dan Earl
574
1993-1999
13
Tony Ward
331
1984-1988
4
Talor Battle
517
2007-2011
14
Tony Carr
325
2016-2018
5
Joe Crispin
485
1997-2001
15
Shep Garner
317
2014-2018
Tom Wilkinson
485
1976-1980
16
Josh Reaves
310
2015–2019
7
Monroe Brown
450
1988-1992
17
Pete Lisicky
291
1994-1998
8
Titus Ivory
443
1996-2001
18
D.J. Newbill
288
2012-2015
9
Ben Luber
418
2003-2007
19
Brandon Watkins
287
1999-2003
10
Dwight Gibson
385
1991-1995
20
Lamar Stevens
262
2016-2020
Rebounds (650+)
Rank
Player
Rebounds
Years
Rank
Player
Rebounds
Years
1
Jesse Arnelle
1,238
1951-1955
12
Carvin Jefferson
713
1975-1979
2
Mike Watkins
956
2016–2020
13
Randy Meister
712
1972-1975
3
Mike Lang
912
1979-1983
14
Jarrett Stephens
703
1995-2000
4
Lamar Stevens
875
2016-2020
15
Andrew Jones
681
2007-2011
5
Ross Travis
816
2011-2015
16
Gyasi Cline-Heard
672
1997-2001
6
Gene Harris
762
1959-1962
7
Geary Claxton
755
2004-2008
Jamelle Cornley
755
2005-2009
9
John Amaechi
745
1992-1995
10
Carver Clinton
734
1963-1966
11
Calvin Booth
728
1995-1999
All-Americans
NBA players
NBA draft
Tony Carr
Year
Round
Pick
Name
Team
1947
3
10
John Rusinko
1953
7
2
Herman Sledzik
1955
2
13
1965
3
22
1966
11
6
Carver Clinton
1974
7
17
Ron Brown
1981
3
57
1983
8
12
Mike Lang
1984
10
211
1994
10
211
1999
2
35
2018
2
51
2023
2
32
2023
2
46
Other NBA players
The following is a list of undrafted Penn State players who have played at least one NBA regular or post-season game. Bold denotes players with active NBA or NBA G League contracts.
Chris Babb
Season by Season Records
Penn State Men's Basketball Radio Affiliates
[ 3]
References
External links
Venues Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA Final Four appearance in italics
Teams Championships & awards Conference challenges Seasons