How should Penn State basketball’s 2019-20 team be remembered? Former Nittany Lions chime in
Jon Crispin couldn’t find the right comparison for what the Penn State men’s basketball team is feeling. He paused for a moment before adding a caveat to what he was about to say.
“We have to be careful with extremes,” he told the Centre Daily Times. “Because we need to be sensitive to what people experience.”
Then, with that out of the way, Crispin took a quick breath before finding the only comparison that seemed apt.
“At the same time, not having that closure in the season, it’s like a loss of life in some ways,” he said. “That’s how you feel it. It’s an abrupt loss ... Having something end in a natural way has built-in closure. The abrupt stop is what’s so difficult for us to deal with.”
The suddenness of the season’s end came after the spread of COVID-19 forced the Big Ten to cancel its conference tournament and then the NCAA to cancel its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Penn State may not have finished its season, but that doesn’t change how the 2019-20 team will be viewed in history.
The Nittany Lions tied the highest AP Poll ranking in program history, won 21 games and were in a position to win the Big Ten regular season title with two weeks left in the regular season. Their accomplishments will keep them held in high regard by many, including a few important former players, including Crispin, who played on the 2000-01 team that made its way to the Sweet Sixteen.
Tyler Smith, a junior forward on the 2001 team, hopes the 2019-20 Nittany Lions are still remembered for how good they were when they were at their best.
“I’ll remember how much fun they were to watch,” Smith told the CDT. “We got to see them beat really good teams and go up big on other ranked teams. Every night it felt like they should win this game. It was so fun.”
Crispin went even further. He’s going to remember just how good they could’ve been.
“I’ll remember them as the most talented team I’ve ever seen at Penn State,” he said. “I’ll remember them as a team that had unlimited potential. When you think about how far this team could go, there’s a scenario where they could win a national championship because they have the personnel that could beat any team in the country.”
Crispin’s brother, Joe, was the leading scorer on that Sweet Sixteen team and the fourth-leading scorer scorer in program history with 1,986 points. Joe was passed by senior forward Lamar Stevens this season, who finished with 2,207 career points, six points shy of tying Talor Battle, the program’s all-time leading scorer. He was virtually a lock to become the most prolific scorer in program history had the season gone one as scheduled.
Joe told the CDT he still occasionally wonders how he didn’t reach 2,000 points, and immediately thought about Stevens’ pursuit of a tournament appearance and the scoring title when the news broke about the cancellations.
“He was the first one I thought of,” he said. “Lamar has invested a lot into the community and in the program. He was on a mission and it was obvious. I feel for him. He invested so much into it and he doesn’t get that reward. It hurts worse because he was on this mission and it was just taken away from him.”
The Crispins said there should be an asterisk next to Stevens’ mark in the record book, indicating that he would’ve been the leading scorer if not for the sudden end to the season.
Asterisk or no asterisk, his impact on and off the court is unlikely to be forgotten. Joe showered Stevens with praise for his accomplishments in his four years as a Nittany Lion.
“The kid was an incredible player, good kid, good representative of the program,” he said. “He was a guy who turned the program around. He was there for four years, fun to watch, and obviously a guy you feel good about and were happy for when he had success. No doubt he’s one of the best players to ever play at Penn State, but there’s always going to be that ‘what if’ when it comes to his legacy.”
Even with the praise and the admiration for what they’ve accomplished this year, Stevens and his teammates lost out on a special opportunity. The chance to play in the NCAA Tournament doesn’t come around often, especially at a school like Penn State. Joe couldn’t help but think of what they’re missing when he recalled his own March Madness memories.
“That’s why I feel so bad for them,” he said. “I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have because I was so focused on winning, but it was everything that we were working toward for four years.”
The suddenness of the season’s end is difficult to fathom. The Nittany Lions were just under 80 hours from hearing their name called on Selection Sunday when the Big Ten Tournament was canceled. They were under 74 hours away when the NCAA Tournament was canceled. Just like that, their season was over.
There was no celebration after a run late into March. There was no grieving over a loss on the first weekend of the tournament. There was nothing.
It was just over.
That’s where the real pain lies.
“It’s about not having finality,” Jon said. “There’s no closure. The basketball team is left in limbo because they didn’t get a chance to prove how good they were. That’s what sports gives us. Sports gives us an opportunity to either go out and win the game or lose the game, but either way you have that sense of finality. Not having it has to be torture for a team in Penn State this year that has more talent than 80% of teams that would’ve been in the tournament field.
“They don’t have an opportunity to see how far they can take it. It’s about not having the opportunity to prove who you are. That’s the toughest thing to me.”
