Jon Crispin
| Shooting guard | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 19, 1981 Pitman, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Pitman (Pitman, New Jersey) |
| College |
Penn State (1999–2001) UCLA (2002–2004) |
| NBA draft | 2004 / Undrafted |
Jonathan Scott "Jon" Crispin (born January 19, 1981) is an American former basketball player for the Penn State Nittany Lions and UCLA Bruins.[1]
Early years
Personal
Jon was born to parents Steven and Susan Crispin in Pitman, New Jersey, and has three siblings, one brother and two sisters.[1] His older brother is former high school and Penn State teammate Joe Crispin.[1] Joe had a brief NBA career. His father Steve played football at Villanova. Jon's grandfather Cliff was a two-sport (baseball and basketball) athlete at Temple (1957–59) and played in the 1958 Final Four.[1] Interestingly, Cliff also owns the Maryland state high school boys' basketball single game scoring record of 79, set in 1956.[2]
Pitman High School
Crispin attended his hometown Pitman High School from 1995-1999. He became a four year starter on the varsity basketball team, two of which were alongside his older brother Joe. As a senior, he earned an "All-Group All-State" second-team honor.[1] For three straight years he earned Group I All-State honors. During his prep basketball career, Crispin led the Panthers to two conference titles, two South Jersey crowns and two Group I NJ State Championships (1997 & 1998).[1]
As a junior in 1998, Jon scored a school-record 62 points (21-35 FG, 12-19 threes) in a South Jersey Group I playoff game versus Penns Grove High School.[2] He eventually ended his prep career as fourth on Gloucester County's all-time scoring[3] charts after collecting 2,319 points.[4] His brother Joe finished tops in Gloucester County history after having scored 2,651 points.[4][5]
Jon was a multi-sport star, also having lettered twice in baseball and three times in football. He was All-Tri-County Conference in football twice and once in baseball.[1]
College
Penn State
Jon followed older brother Joe to play basketball for the Nittany Lions in State College, Pennsylvania. As a true freshman (1999–2000) he started 22 of 31 games played.[6] Jon finished the season as the team’s fourth highest scorer (9.3 ppg / 228 total) despite missing four games in February due to a foot stress fracture.[1][6]
As a sophomore (2000–01), Crispin started 31 of 33 games but averaged a diminished 7.2 points.[1] He was fifth in scoring (7.2 / 236)[7] and most of his statistics dipped a little from his freshman season. Jon’s best performance came when he scored a career-high 26 points in the Nittany Lions' 73-68 upset at Kentucky on November 25, 2000 in the Wildcats' home opener.[1] He was also a starter throughout the 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and helped Penn State reach the Sweet 16.[1] The 84-72 loss against Temple would be the last time he and Joe would ever play as high school or collegiate teammates.
UCLA
Jon decided to transfer to the national basketball powerhouse UCLA Bruins prior to the start of his junior season. Due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules, Crispin was forced to sit out the 2001-02 season.
After becoming eligible for his red-shirted junior season in 2002-03, Crispin played in 23 games (one start) while averaging 2.3 points. His 37.9 three-point percentage ranked second on the team while his 90.0 free throw percentage ranked first.[1][8] He was voted Lindy’s Number 3 College Basketball Transfer in the nation prior to the season.[1]
Jon Crispin’s final college season (2003–04) had him see action in only nine total games, two of which were starts.[9] He scored 18 points all season for a 2.0 per game average.[9] However, Jon was awarded the Elvin C. Ducky Drake Memorial Award, presented annually to "the member of the UCLA basketball team selected for his competitive spirit, inspiration and unselfish contribution to the team."[10]
Post college
Jon currently resides in Los Angeles, California.[11] Jon has been filmed in Sony commercials as well as Nike and Coca-Cola.[4] He has also modeled for print advertisements.
Over the summer, Jon and his brother Joe operate The Crispin Basketball School in South Jersey. This includes camps, clinics, individual training and speaking engagements. In Los Angeles, Jon works as a commercial real estate broker for CBRE. He also works for Fox Sports and Time Warner SportsNet as a college basketball analyst and in-game color commentator. He has previously worked as analyst and host with Fox Sports Radio and color commentator with The Big Ten Network.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 UCLA player biography. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Basketball Single-Game Scoring Records. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ As of June 2008, Jon was still the number four scorer in Gloucester County history, but since then he may have been bumped from that spot.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 A pop with 'Pop' – NJ.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ As of June 2008, Joe was still the number one scorer in Gloucester County history, but since then he may have been bumped from the top spot.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Go PSU Sports – 1999-2000 men’s basketball season statistics. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ Go PSU Sports – 2000-2001 men’s basketball season statistics. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ UCLA Bruins Sports - 2002-2003 men’s basketball season statistics. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 UCLA Bruins Sports - 2003-2004 men’s basketball season statistics. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ UCLA Bruins men’s basketball media guide (page 109). Retrieved on June 30, 2008.
- ↑ CrispinBasketball: Welcome to Crispin Basketball. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.