Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Penn State Basketball

Hoops history: How many times has PSU had multiple players in NBA at same time?

John Amaechi

This was a fun project. With Tim Frazier now back in the NBA on a 10-day contract and Lamar Stevens currently playing in the league, I wondered: How many times has Penn State had multiple players on active NBA rosters at the same time throughout the league’s history?

The answer: Not many.

And the MOST players Penn State has ever had in the NBA at the same time?

Again, not many (I’ll give you that answer in a bit).

All told, there have been only 15 Penn State players who made it to the NBA. That includes two who played in the late 1940s in the old Basketball Association of America, which later became part of the NBA and is recognized by the league as part of its history.

These are the 15 PSU players who made it to the NBA, according to Basketball Reference:

**John Amaechi (1996-2003)

**Jesse Arnelle (1956)

**Chris Babb (2014)

**Herschel Baltimore (1947 in BAA)

**John Barr (1947 in BAA)

**Calvin Booth (2000-09)

**Frank Brickowski (1985-97)

**Joe Crispin (2002)

**Tim Frazier (2015-21)

**Tom Hovasse (1995)

**Mike Iuzzolino (1992-93)

**Josh Reaves (2020)

**Lamar Stevens (2021)

Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.

**Whitey Von Nieda (1950)

**Bob Weiss (1966-77)

OK, so that’s the full list of players who made it. They have been pretty spread out, with a few exceptions, so it wasn’t too difficult putting the following list together of players who were active in the NBA at the same times.

In compiling this list, I went back to make sure that players who were in the league in the same season actually were on active rosters and playing at the same time periods.

So, following is the entire list of the number of times it has occurred. The season is listed for each occasion:

**1946-47: Herschel Baltimore and John Barr both were on active Basketball Association of America rosters

**1991-92, 1992-93: Frank Brickowski and Mike Iuzzolino (who began his career at PSU before transferring to Saint Francis and becoming a legend there)

**Special note on one instance that doesn’t count: 1994-95: Frank Brickowski had a shoulder injury and did not play this season. Tom Hovasse appeared in two games. But they were not active at the same time.

**1995-96: Frank Brickowski and John Amaechi (the latter played this season in the NBA, then played overseas the next three years before returning in 1999)

**1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03: John Amaechi and Calvin Booth

**2001-02: Calvin Booth, John Amaechi, Joe Crispin

**2019-20: Tim Frazier and Josh Reaves

**2020-21: Tim Frazier and Lamar Stevens

Alright, as you can see, only ONE TIME ever has there been three former Penn State players on active NBA rosters at the same time, occurring in the 2001-02 season with Booth, Amaechi and Crispin.

Also, as you can see, there was a long, long time between instances of two players occurring after Amaechi and Booth were in the NBA together in 2002-03. It didn’t happen again until Josh Reaves played four games in 2019-20 at the same time Frazier was active.

Frazier appeared in three games earlier this season for the Memphis Grizzlies, at the same time Stevens was active with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Frazier will be back active again in a few days after signing his 10-day contract.

Hopefully you enjoyed my list. If anything, all of this shows just how rare it has been for a Penn State player to get to the NBA, and how getting multiple guys there at the same time has been extremely rare.

Click for more Nittany Sports Now coverage

Get NSN in your Inbox

Enter your email address to get notifications of new posts by email.

More from Nittany Sports Now

Penn State Football Recruiting

0s Penn State held its first major early-summer recruiting weekend under Matt Campbell, and the timing could not have been much better for the...

Penn State Football

0s We have a little under 100 days until Penn State opens its 2026 season. Is it too early to predict how things are...

Penn State Hockey

0s Pierce Mbuyi’s path to Penn State started before the NCAA door fully opened for Canadian Hockey League players. The Owen Sound Attack forward...

Penn State Football Recruiting

0s Penn State’s first major official visit weekend of the summer has already produced another commitment. Caleb Cooper, a three-star safety from Providence Day...