Last week on the Joe and the Fatman Podcast, the long time voice of Penn State men’s basketball gave his Mount Rushmore to NSN’s Joe Smeltzer and Kyle Golik.
Jones, who enters his 45th year being the voice of PSU men’s basketball, started out.
“Let’s start with Talor Battle, all-time leading scorer. Second leading scorer all-time is Lamar Stevens, there’s your forward right there. I do have to put Joe Crispin on there. And then I can put down so many other guys like Danny Earl, Pete Lisicky, Jarrett Stephens, Jalen Pickett was an All-American, D.J. Newbill, Calvin Booth…but here’s the kind of guy that you do not win unless you have a guy like this…Titus Ivory. Was he your best defender? No, he was probably your second-best defender. Was he your best ball handler? No, but he was your second-best ball handler. Was he your best shooter? No, he was probably your second-best shooter. He did all the little things and the guys on the 2001 team that made the Sweet Sixteen, they will tell you over and over and over again we had Joe Crispin, we had Jon Crispin, Gyasi Cline-Heard, but Titus Ivory was always the guy that when you needed something, he was always the guy that was there. I throw him on there because it is important to recognize people who are critical to winning and not just critical to stats, so that’s my wildcard that I’ll throw on there.”
TALOR BATTLE
Battle played at Penn State for his entire collegiate career (2007-2011) and is currently an assistant coach on the Nittany Lion staff. He is No. 1 on the all-time scoring list with 2,213 points. The four-year starter is one of the few players in college basketball history to record over 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in their career. Battle led the Nittany Lions to their first-ever NIT Championship Title in 2009 and to the 2011 NCAA Tournament when the Nittany Lions secured a No. 10 seed in the West Region and ultimately lost to No. 7 Temple 66-64 on a last-second buzzer-beater. Battle is also No. 1 all-time in minutes played (4,799), No. 1 in win shares (16.4) and No. 4 in total assists (517).
LAMAR STEVENS
Stevens (2016-2020) spent four impactful seasons in State College. He is currently No. 1 on the all-time list in total field goals made (801), No. 2 in made free throws (519), No. 2 in total points scored (2,207), No. 2 in defensive rebounds (675), No. 3 in total minutes played (4,351), No. 5 in blocks (127) and No. 8 in offensive rebounds (200). In 2018, Stevens led the Nittany Lions to winning the NIT Championship. During the 2019-2020 season, he also helped Penn State to a national ranking at No. 20 before COVID-19 canceled all the postseason tournaments.
JOE CRISPIN
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Joe Crispin was a four-year starter (1997-2001) and a 2001 captain for Penn State, who starred for the Nittany Lions during one of the program’s best periods as the team made three postseason appearances during his career, including trips to the 2001 NCAA Sweet 16, the 1998 NIT Championship Game and the 2000 NIT Final Four. He is still No. 1 in the PSU record books for free throw shooting percentage (.885), No. 3 in three-point shooting percentage (.348), No. 4 in total points scored (1,986), No. 4 in true shooting percentage (.536), No. 4 in three-point field goals made (308), No. 5 in total assists (485) and No. 5 in total minutes played (4,063).
TITUS IVORY
Ivory (1996-2001) had career averages of 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He most notably helped lead Penn State’s historic, Cinderella run in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when the Nittany Lions advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating No. 2 seed North Carolina, 82-74, where Ivory scored 21 points. He also helped lead Penn State to two NIT Final Fours in Madison Square Garden in 1998 and 2000.
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