When talking about the all-time greats in Penn State basketball history, Pete Lisicky is near the top of the list.
The Whitehall, Pennsylvania, native played at Penn State from 1994-1998.
‘Pistol Pete,’ a nickname he earned in high school, is still in the Nittany Lion record books today.
Lisicky ranks No. 1 all-time in 3-point shooting percentage at 40% and for true shooting percentage at 59%.
His 332 made three pointers is No. 2 all-time and he comes in at No. 7 on the all-time scoring mark with 1,605 points.
Lesicky was also voted to the All-Big Ten Team in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and received national recognition in 1996 for being voted as an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American.
Why did Lesicky choose to attend his home state school of PSU?
“For me, just coming to Penn State was Bruce Parkhill (Penn State head coach 1983-1995). So down-to-earth. Such a huge influence on my decision. The other schools I was looking at, don’t want to say car salesmen-feel, but I got that sense talking with so many of the big-time coaches at other schools, I was just being sold something. Bruce was the guy that was honest and oh by the way was one of the first schools to officially offer me…even if I tore my ACL, they would honor my scholarship.”
Lesicky played under Parkhill his freshman year and the team made it to the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Garden, but then Parkhill unexpectantly resigned in September 1995.
Jerry Dunn, who was Parkhill’s top assistant for 12 seasons, then took over at the helm.
The Nittany Lions went on to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed the following year and finished the 1995-96 season ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll.
Then during Lisicky’s senior year (1997-98), he helped lead the Nittany Lions to their first-ever NIT title game.
“The success we had my freshmen, sophomore and senior years, it’s certainly the best of my basketball memories,” Lisicky said.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Lisicky went onto to play professional ball overseas for 11 years.
He played in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France and Poland.
What was his favorite country to play in?
“It was Italy, Lisicky said. “A lot of that was just the quality of play. It was also the way it was officiated. Back to Poland, it was a rugby game in Poland every game. Just brutal. They would always say the Europeans are soft…okay, Toni Kukoc was a finesse player but the game of basketball in Europe, the referees let you do all kinds of things….hooking and all these things they don’t see or they don’t know to look for.”
Lesicky also mentioned that Italy had the best food during his professional career.
Penn State’s sharpshooting legend concluded the interview talking about how the game has changed since he played now with NIL and with rosters changing every season. He also gave his take on today’s Penn State men’s basketball program.
He feels Penn State is trying to do things the right way by recruiting the right players. He also acknowledged the major challenge that Penn State and all the other schools in the country have to being out-bid by other schools and also feels the NCAA needs to get a handle on the NIL process, because right now it is “haywire.” But Lisicky feels that whoever is part of the program, they need to ‘Make it yours’ and to ‘Make your tradition.’
Lisicky currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, Kristin, and their three children, Charles, Cecily and Josephine and they take great pride in building a life centered on empathy, shared values and community. The former Penn State basketball star works as a certified financial planner.
You can watch NSN’s interview with Pete Lisicky down below.
