One of Penn State’s all-time great players and longtime professional athlete, Joe Crispin enters his second season as Assistant to the Head Coach in 2024-25.
Crispin helped lay a strong foundation during his first season on the sidelines at Penn State in 2023-24. As offensive coordinator, Crispin helped engineer the highest-scoring offense under a first-year head coach at Penn State since 1954-55 as the Nittany Lions averaged 75.1 points per game in Mike Rhoades’ debut season. Penn State's 75.2 points per game in regular-season Big Ten play was the second-highest in Penn State's 32 seasons in the Big Ten, behind only the 2000-01 Nittany Lions team's 75.4 points per Big Ten game.
Prior to the return to his alma mater, Crispin spent the previous seven seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J. where he guided the Profs to a 114-54 record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, two conference titles and the 2023 Sweet 16. He collected the fourth-most wins by a head coach in school history through his seven years on the sideline.
Crispin engineered one of the most prolific offenses in the country at Rowan, as the Profs averaged more than 80 points per game in each of his final six seasons including 90+ points per game in each of the last two years.
A longtime professional player, Crispin joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 as a free agent and enjoyed a highly successful career in Europe for more than a decade.
A four-year starter and 2001 captain, Crispin starred for Penn State 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, 1998 NIT final and 2000 NIT semifinals. Crispin scored 21 points in an upset victory of No. 6-ranked and No. 2-seeded North Carolina in the 2001 NCAA Tournament to help Penn State reach the Sweet 16, widely considered one of the greatest game in Penn State history.
Crispin’s name is all over the Penn State record books. He currently stands fourth in school history in career scoring (1,986 points), fourth in career 3-pointers (308), fifth in career assists (485), sixth in career free throws made (448) and seventh in field goals made (615).
Crispin earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2001 (coaches), and second team in 2000 (coaches and media) and 2001 (media). He was a Big Ten All-Tournament team honoree in 2000 and 2001 and earned four Big Ten Player of the Week awards. Crispin averaged 19.5 ppg in 2001 and was named NABC All-District first team while earning a share of the John Lawther team MVP award. Penn State posted a 72-55 mark in his four seasons.
Crispin and his wife Erin, who played soccer at Penn State, have five children – Abby, Elijah, Naomi, Isaiah and Daniel.
Joe Crispin - Coaching History
2014-16 – Rowan, Assistant Coach
2016-23 – Rowan, Head Coach
2023-present – Penn State, Assistant to the Head Coach
Joe Crispin Professional Playing Career Highlights
Played for Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns in 2001-02
2004 ABA Most Valuable Player with Kansas City Knights
USBL Champion with Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs
All-Polish League selection with Anwil Wloclawek
All-Star honors with Banvit in Turkey
All-League honors with Enel Brindisi in Italy
Joe Crispin