Jon Crispin was sitting on the bench during a home game last
year, sporting a suit and tie while watching his new team play
without him.
A fan approached him with a curious comment.
“I didn’t know managers had to wear a suit and
tie,” the fan said.
“Yeah, we do. We have to,” responded Crispin,
fooling the fan into thinking that he was a manager, rather than a
redshirt who just transferred from Penn State after his sophomore
season.
Some players would be bothered by the anonymity, but not
Crispin.
The junior guard enjoys his newfound anonymity, saying it has
been a humbling experience not to be recognized all over campus,
like he was at Penn State.
“In Los Angeles, if you aren’t Shaq or scoring 30
points a game, you’re a nobody,” Crispin said.
“It’s been good for me. I’m just a six foot white
guy at UCLA.”
Despite being undersized, Crispin will be called upon to add a
much-needed scoring threat to a Bruin team that, besides for
seniors Jason Kapono and Ray Young, does not have many outside
shooters.
“He will help this team a lot before this season is
over,” said UCLA head coach Steve Lavin. “He is a very
savvy and heady player.”
At Penn State, the New Jersey native averaged 8.2 points per
game in his career, starting all but two of the Nittany
Lions’ games while averaging 27.8 minutes in his sophomore
season.
But he decided to transfer, in hopes of going to a bigger
program that had a chance at winning a national championship.
“Penn State is a football school,” Crispin said.
“So it is tough to build a program and get
recruits.”
According to Crispin, the other main difference between the
programs is the pressure to win at UCLA.
“The atmosphere at Penn State was good, if we were
winning,” Crispin said. “Here the atmosphere is
“˜you better win.’ That is why I came here.”
Crispin’s role in helping UCLA win this season will be to
come off the bench as a scoring compliment to Kapono, whom most
other teams’ defenses smother with double teaming or other
schemes.
Therefore, he will have to be aggressive in getting shot
opportunities and creating open shots for his teammates.
“I’m going to make a constant effort to
attack,” Crispin said.
So far, he hasn’t been nearly as aggressive as he wants to
be. He took only two shots against San Diego in 13 minutes, missing
both.
And against Duke, he took just three shots despite starting and
playing 22 minutes. He made two of the three, finishing with five
points.
“He is still trying to figure out his role,” Lavin
said. “I think he doesn’t want to add to bad stretches
that the team is having by shooting the ball quickly.”
Crispin agrees, saying he only has five shot opportunities on
the season because he wants to get everyone involved in the
offense.
“I’m trying to be as patient as possible,” he
said. “It is tough because I’m passing up easy shots,
and I’m a scorer.”
Before the San Diego game, Crispin said he hopes this team can
win a national championship and break school records in order to
earn a spot in UCLA lore.
He may just get his wish. The Bruins are off to their worst
start in 41 years.
“I said I wanted to be a part of something special, but
not that,” Crispin said. “Not 0-3.”