Penn State Nittany Lions basketball

This article is about the men's basketball team at Pennsylvania State University. For the women's basketball team, see Penn State Lady Lions basketball.

Penn State Nittany Lions

2015–16 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team

University

Pennsylvania State University

Conference

Big Ten

Location

University Park, PA

Head coach

Pat Chambers (4th year)

Arena

Bryce Jordan Center
(Capacity: 15,261)

Nickname

Nittany Lions

Student section

Legion of Blue

Colors

Blue and White^[1]

Uniforms

Home

Away

NCAA Tournament Final Four

1954

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

1942, 1954

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen

1952, 1954, 1955, 2001

NCAA Tournament appearances

1942, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1965, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2011

Conference tournament champions

Atlantic 10: 1991

Conference division season champions

Eastern Collegiate League West: 1977

The Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team is a NCAA Division I college basketball team representing the Pennsylvania State University. They are a member of the Big Ten Conference and play home games at the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center, moving there from boisterous Rec Hall during the 1995–96 season. Their student cheering section is known as The Legion of Blue.

The program has eight NCAA tournament appearances with its best finish coming in 1954, reaching the Final Four. Its most recent appearance was in 2011, when the team lost to the Temple Owls in the round of 64. The program also has 10 appearances in the National Invitation Tournament, with the most recent being in 2009, when they beat Baylor to win the NIT championship.

In the shadow of football

At a school where the football program captures the vast majority of media and fan interest, the basketball program has historically struggled for relevance. According to ESPN.com writer and Penn State graduate^[2] Dana O'Neil,

“

For years the basketball team has been a little sister of the poor stepchild to football, a winter afterthought given all the tending and care of a vegetable garden positioned in the middle of a nuclear field. Administrative support waffles between tepid applause and casual indifference.^[3]

”

In O'Neil's view, the "stepchild" status of the program was most starkly illustrated by the last weeks of the 2010–11 season. The team normally practices at a dedicated facility within the Bryce Jordan Center. However, for nearly a week in February, while the team was making a run for an NCAA at-large bid, Bon Jovi took over the entire BJC—including the practice facilities—for rehearsals for their upcoming concert tour, which opened at the BJC. The following week, the team was evicted from the BJC for a career fair^[2] and for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.^[4] On both occasions, the team was forced to practice at the nearby Intramural Building, a facility normally used by Penn State's volleyball teams. Although retrofitted with basketball hoops, the space left much to be desired. Multiple holes for volleyball net stanchions had to be taped over. During the Bon Jovi rehearsals, the hoops had been visibly lower than regulation height. While this error was corrected the following week, one of the hoops remained visibly misaligned.^[4]

Current coaching staff

Position	Name	Year	Alma mater
Head coach	Patrick Chambers	2011	Philadelphia University (1994)
Associate Head Coach	Brian Daly	2011	University of Richmond (1994)
Associate Head Coach	Keith Urgo	2011	Saint Joseph's University (1992)
Assistant Coach	Dwayne Anderson	2013	Villanova University (2009)
Director of basketball operations	Ross Condon	2011	Villanova University (2007)
Athletic trainer	Jon Salazer	2001	Penn State (1993)
Director of Player Development	Ryan Devlin	2014	University of Pittsburgh (2005)
Strength and conditioning coach	Brandon Spayd	2013	Juniata College (2010)

Coaching history

Coach	Years	Seasons	Record	Pct.	Cnf. Record	Pct.	Cnf. Titles
No coach	1897–1915, 1917–1918	20	131–65–1	.668
Burke M. "Dutch" Hermann	1916–1918, 1919–32	15	148–73	.716
Hugo Bezdek	1919	1	11–2	.846
Earl "The Spike" Leslie	1933–36	4	29–28	.509	0–10	.000	0
John Lawther	1937–49	13	150–93	.617	17–13	.567	0
Elmer Gross	1949–54	5	80–40	.667
John Egli	1954–68	14	187–135	.581
Johnny Bach	1968–78	10	122–121	.502	9–11	.450	0
Dick Harter	1978–83	5	79–61	.564	13–11	.564	0
Bruce Parkhill	1983–95	12	181–169	.517	82–116	.414	1
Jerry Dunn	1995–2003	8	117–121	.492	45–87	.341	0
Ed DeChellis	2003–2011	8	114–138	.452	41–95	.301	0
Pat Chambers	2011–present	4	63-78	.447	15–56	.211	0
Totals	1897–present	116	1412–1322–1	.516	222–399	.357	1

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Nittany Lions have appeared in the NCAA Tournament nine times. Their combined record is 9–11.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
1942		Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Dartmouth Illinois	L 39–44 W 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 Salle USC	W 62–50 W 78–70 W 71–63 L 54–69 W 70–61
1955		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Memphis State Iowa 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 69–59 W 82–74 L 72–84
2011	#10	Second Round	#7 Temple	L 64–66

NIT results

The Nittany Lions have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) ten times. Their combined record is 22–9. They were NIT champions in 2009.

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 57–54 W 80–78 W 58–55 L 62–75 W 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 62–56 W 65–59 W 67–64 L 79–81 W 66–62
1998	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Rider Dayton Georgia Tech Georgia Minnesota	W 82–68 W 77–74 W 77–70 W 66–60 L 72–79
2000	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Princeton Siena Kent State Notre Dame NC State	W 55–41 W 105–103 W 81–74 L 52–73 W 74–72
2006	Opening Round	Rutgers	L 71–76
2009	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	George Mason Rhode Island Florida Notre Dame Baylor	W 77–73 ^OT W 83–72 W 71–62 W 67–59 W 69–63

CBI results

The Nittany Lions have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) one time. Their record is 1–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2014	First Round Quarterfinals	Hampton Siena	W 69–65 L 52–54

NBA draft

Year	Name	Team
1947	John Rusinko	Baltimore Bullets
1953	Herman Sledzik	Baltimore Bullets
1955	Jesse Arnelle	Fort Wayne Pistons
1965	Bob Weiss	Philadelphia 76ers
1966	Carver Clinton	Philadelphia 76ers
1974	Ron Brown	Boston Celtics
1981	Frank Brickowski	New York Knicks
1983	Mike Lang	New York Knicks
1984	Dick Mumma	Los Angeles Clippers
1999	Calvin Booth	Washington Wizards

Penn State Men's Basketball Radio Affiliates

^[5]

WAEB (790 AM) Allentown
WVAM (1430 AM) Altoona
WILK-FM (103.1 FM) Avoca
WZBF (106.1 FM) Beaver Springs
WAYC (1600 AM) Bedford
WISR (680 AM) Butler
WCPA (900 AM) Clearfield
WZDB (95.9 FM) DuBois
WPSE (1450 AM) Erie
WFRA (1450 AM) Franklin
WGET (1320 AM) Gettysburg
WHVR (1280 AM) Hanover
WHGB (1400 AM) Harrisburg
W237DE (95.3 FM) Harrisburg
WKZN (1300 AM) Hazleton

WRKK (1200 AM) Hughesville
WDBF-FM (106.3 FM) Huntingdon
WLPA (1490 AM) Lancaster
WNPV (1440 AM) Lansdale
WLBR (1270 AM) Lebanon
WIBF (92.5 FM) Lewistown
WNBQ (92.3 FM) Mansfield
WMGW (1490 AM) Meadville
WJST (1280 AM) New Castle
WVNJ (1160 AM) New York City, NY
WVTT (96.7 FM) Olean, NY
WNTP (990 AM) Philadelphia
KQV (1410 AM) Pittsburgh
WPPA (1360 AM) Pottsville
WRAW (1340 AM) Reading

WBZU (910 AM) Scranton
WQWK (1450 AM) State College
WKOK (1070 AM) Sunbury
WTIV (1230 AM) Titusville
WTZN (1310 AM) Troy
WTRN (1340 AM) Tyrone
W264BZ (100.7 FM) Tyrone
WNAE (1310 AM) Warren
WNBT-FM (104.5 FM) Wellsboro
WILK (980 AM) Wilkes-Barre
WRAK (1400 AM) Williamsport
WSBA (910 AM) York

References

↑ Penn State Visual Editorial Standards. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
1 2 O'Neil, Dana (February 18, 2011). "Some things never change at Penn State". College Basketball Nation Blog. ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
↑ O'Neil, Dana (May 23, 2011). "The ball is in Penn State's court". College Basketball Nation Blog. ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
1 2 Bauer, Nate (February 15, 2011). "Inside the Den: News and notes from the hardwood". Blue White Illustrated. Rivals.com. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
↑ http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/nl-update-affiliates.html 2011-2012 PSU Network Affiliates - Men's Basketball

Penn State Nittany Lions basketball

Venues	Armory (1896–1929) Rec Hall (1929–1996) Bryce Jordan Center (1996–present)

Culture & lore	Nittany Nation Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

The Pennsylvania State University

Academics

College of Agricultural Sciences
College of Arts and Architecture
Smeal College of Business
College of Communications
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
College of Education
College of Engineering
College of Health and Human Development
College of Information Sciences and Technology
College of the Liberal Arts
Eberly College of Science
Graduate School
Schreyer Honors College
School of Nursing
School of International Affairs
Dickinson Law
Penn State Law
Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies
College of Medicine
Pennsylvania College of Technology
School of Hospitality Management

Athletics

Sports	Penn State Nittany Lions Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Field Hockey Football Men's Ice Hockey Women's Ice Hockey Men's Lacrosse Men's Soccer Women's Soccer Men's Volleyball Women's Volleyball Wrestling

Facilities	Beaver Stadium Bryce Jordan Center Golf Courses Pegula Ice Arena Penn State Ice Pavilion Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Rec Hall

Rivalries	Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia

Spirit	Alma Mater Blue Band Fight On, State Nittany Lion (mascot) The Nittany Lion Nittany Nation

Buildings

Campuses:
Commonwealth

Campuses:
Special Mission

Departments

Research

Media

People

Alumni
Athletic directors
Coaches
Faculty
Olympians
Presidents
George W. Atherton
Eric J. Barron (current president)
Joe Paterno
Fred Lewis Pattee

Student life

Big Ten Conference men's basketball

Teams	Illinois Fighting Illini Indiana Hoosiers Iowa Hawkeyes Maryland Terrapins Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans Minnesota Golden Gophers Nebraska Cornhuskers Northwestern Wildcats Ohio State Buckeyes Penn State Nittany Lions Purdue Boilermakers Rutgers Scarlet Knights Wisconsin Badgers

Championships & awards	Regular season champions Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Player of the Year Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball

Seasons	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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