Jonathan Scott Crispin (born January 19, 1981) is a former American basketball player for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

and

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

.UCLA player biography
. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.

Early years

Personal

Jon was born to parents Steven and Susan Crispin in

Pitman Pitman may refer to: * A coal miner, particularly in Northern England * Pitman (surname) * Pitman, New Jersey, United States * Pitman, Pennsylvania, United States * Pitman, Saskatchewan, Canada * Pitman Shorthand, a system of shorthand * Pitman ar ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and has three siblings, one brother and two sisters. His older brother is former high school and Penn State teammate Joe Crispin. 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 A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

(1957–59) and played in the 1958 Final Four. Cliff also owns the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

state high school boys' basketball single game scoring record of 79, set in 1956.Basketball Single-Game Scoring Records
Retrieved on June 30, 2008.

Pitman High School

Crispin attended his hometown

Pitman High School Pitman High School is a comprehensive community public high school in Pitman, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Pitman School District. As of ...

from 1995 to 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. 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). 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 Penns Grove High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carneys Point Township and Penns Grove in Salem County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Pen ...

. He eventually ended his prep career as fourth on Gloucester County's all-time scoringAs of June 2008 charts after collecting 2,319 points.A pop with 'Pop' – NJ.com
Retrieved on June 30, 2008. His brother Joe finished top in Gloucester County history after having scored 2,651 points. Jon was a multi-sport star, also having lettered twice in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and three times in football. He was All- Tri-County Conference in football twice and once in baseball. Jon received multiple high-major Division I offers for football and garnered significant attention from MLB scouts as a pitcher.

College

Penn State

Jon followed older brother Joe to play basketball for the Nittany Lions in State College,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. As a true freshman (1999–2000) he started 22 of 31 games played.Go PSU Sports – 1999–2000 men’s basketball season statistics
Retrieved on June 30, 2008. 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. As a sophomore (2000–01), Crispin started 31 of 33 games but averaged a diminished 7.2 points. He was fifth in scoring (7.2 / 236)
Retrieved on June 30, 2008. 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 Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

on November 25, 2000 in the Wildcats' home opener. He was also a starter throughout the 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and helped Penn State reach the Sweet 16. 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

prior to the start of his junior season. Due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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. He was voted Lindy's Number 3 College Basketball Transfer in the nation prior to the season. Jon Crispin's final college season (2003–04) had him see action in only nine total games, two of which were starts. UCLA Bruins Sports – 2003–2004 men’s basketball season statistics
Retrieved on June 30, 2008. He scored 18 points all season for a 2.0 per game average. 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."UCLA Bruins men’s basketball media guide
''(page 109)''. Retrieved on June 30, 2008.

Post-college

After college, Jon spent two years playing professional basketball overseas (in Spain and Ireland), as well as in the ABA in the States. During and following his professional playing career, Jon was filmed in numerous television commercials including Ruby Tuesday's, Nike, and Coca-Cola, as well as modeled for print advertisements. When he resided in Los Angeles, California, Jon began his broadcasting career working for Fox Sports Radio,

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

, Time Warner SportsNet, the Big Ten Network, and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

as a radio show host, college basketball analyst, and in-game color commentator. Jon previously served as the lead basketball analyst and color commentator for the Big Ten Network in Chicago, Illinois. He now is a color commentator for ESPN. When not in Chicago, Jon resides in

Pitman, New Jersey Pitman is a borough in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 8,780, a drop of 231 from the 2010 census count of 9,011,Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

running Crispin Basketball in South Jersey. This includes camps, clinics, leagues, AAU, individual training, and speaking engagements. In addition, Jon is a real estate developer and entrepreneur with numerous ongoing developments and projects in and around his hometown of

. Recently, Jon underwent a total abdominal colectomy and ileoanal anastomosis to remove his large intestines after years of suffering from severe

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and ...

References

External links

CrispinBasketball.comJon Crispin’s Coca-Cola commercial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crispin, Jon 1981 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Ireland American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey College basketball announcers in the United States Male models from New Jersey Penn State Nittany Lions basketball players People from Pitman, New Jersey Point guards Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players