Penn State men’s basketball legend Jalen Pickett returned to Pennsylvania on January 5, this time as a member of the Denver Nuggets to play the Philadelphia 76ers in the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

With several key players out, including multi-time MVP Nikola Jokić, the Nuggets involved Pickett significantly more in the offense. The Rochester, New York, native poured in a career-high 29 points to help lift the shorthanded Nuggets to victory.

Pickett is, as of Thursday, one of two Penn State alums to suit up in the NBA this season, but the program has had players around the league for the past several decades. Nine players, Pickett included, have scored at least 15 points in an NBA game. Who are they? How did they do it? What did their careers look like? Let’s find out.

Whitey Von Nieda, 15 points (March 11, 1950)

The history of Nittany Lions in the NBA goes back a long time, even to the first few years of professional basketball. That includes Stanley Von Nieda, affectionately known as “Whitey” during his career.

Von Nieda played just one season at Penn State in 1942-43, helping lead the team to a 15-4 record. After that season, he enlisted in the army and put his basketball career on hold. He found his way to the NBA with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, who started in the National Basketball League (NBL) before it merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to become the NBA in 1950.

He was traded to the Baltimore Bullets midway through the 1949-50 season, where he scored a career-high 15 points in a four-point win over the Boston Celtics. It would be his only season in the
newly-established NBA before playing in the Eastern Professional Basketball League for the next three years. He gained notoriety towards the end of his life, becoming the first NBA player to live to 100 years old before passing away at 101 in 2023.

Yanic Konan Niederhauser, 16 points (December 30, 2025)

Yanic Konan Niederhauser was the first draft pick of the Mike Rhoades era and holds the distinction of being the first-ever first-round pick in program history, selected No. 30 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2025 NBA Draft. He showcased his athleticism and potential in a solid junior season at Penn State following his transfer from Northern Illinois.

The Clippers have used him sparingly in his rookie season. He sits behind seasoned veterans Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez in the rotation. He’s still been able to spread his wings a few times, including a 16-point game on December 30 against the Sacramento Kings.

Niederhauser even tied that career high on Wednesday, going 7-for-7 from the field in a win over the Washington Wizards as he makes the most of his limited opportunities.

Mike Iuzzolino, 23 points (December 8, 1992)

Unlike everyone else on this list, Mike Iuzzolino was not drafted out of Penn State. He was a seldom-used backup in his first two collegiate seasons with the Nittany Lions in 1987 and 1988 before transferring to Saint Francis, where he broke out and became one of the best scorers in the Northeast Conference. The Dallas Mavericks drafted him No. 35 overall in 1991.

The 5’10” point guard played two NBA seasons with Dallas, averaging nine points and 4.3 assists before going overseas. He scored as many as 23 points on multiple occasions, including on December 8, 1992.

That night, he was the second-leading scorer on a woefully bad Mavericks team, which lost 126-112 to fall to 1-13 that night. He went 7-for-12 from the field and made three three-pointers, but the Mavs struggled mightily on defense.

After spending a decade overseas, Iuzzolino went into coaching, where he’s spent time as an assistant coach at Duquesne, Robert Morris, and George Mason.

Calvin Booth, 24 points (November 20, 2001)

Calvin Booth was a defensive ace in college, winning the 1998 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and leading the Big Ten in blocks in all four of his seasons, holding the program record with 428 career blocks. That block total is also 13th in NCAA history. After a strong senior year saw him average 15.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks, he was selected No. 35 overall by the Wizards in 1999.

Of all Penn State alums, Booth’s 366 career games from 1999-2009 are the third-most despite averaging just 3.3 points a night in his career. He played for seven teams over a decade.

He had the best night of his career with the Seattle SuperSonics in November 2001, playing alongside future Hall of Famer Gary Payton and scoring 24 points with six rebounds and five assists in a win over Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and the Mavericks. Booth was limited to just 15 games in 2001-02 due to injury.

Booth stayed involved in basketball. He became the general manager of the Denver Nuggets in 2020 and won an NBA title in 2023 before being let go in 2025.

Tim Frazier, 29 points (April 10, 2019)

While medical redshirts are a big thing nowadays, Tim Frazier got one back in 2013 after his senior year was cut short with Penn State, allowing him to return for 2013-14 and lead the Big Ten in assists for the second time. In his junior year, he was an All-Big Ten and All-Defense honoree.

After five years in college, Frazier went undrafted. He managed to latch on with the Celtics in training camp. While he wouldn’t make his debut in Boston, the experience got his foot in the door that allowed him to stick around in the NBA for eight years, playing for nine different teams.

His best day, however, came in the final game of the 2018-19 season with the Milwaukee Bucks. With almost every Bucks starter resting for the playoffs, Frazier led a ragtag group against Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder, putting up 29 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in a competitive loss.

Jalen Pickett, 29 points (January 5, 2026)

Jalen Pickett is continuing to try building a role with the Nuggets in the NBA, but few can forget his legendary career at Penn State and the 2022-23 Nittany Lion run that saw them come a few minutes away from a Sweet Sixteen berth.

His role has slowly grown in Denver, from a depth piece as a former No. 32 overall pick in 2023 to a solid role player capable of starting in a pinch.

Bob Weiss, 30 points (November 5, 1971)

Bob Weiss averaged 16.3 points across three seasons with the Nittany Lions from 1963-65, leading Penn State to the NCAA Tournament in 1965 before being selected in the third round of that year’s draft by the 76ers.

In his 12-year NBA career, Weiss was a solid role player across six different teams, averaging over 11 points a night on two different occasions with the Chicago Bulls.

He scored 30 points three times across three different seasons, including in 1968 with the SuperSonics. His best game came in November 1971 against the eventual champion Bucks, where he went toe-to-toe with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, going 12-for-20 from the field.

After his career ended, he went on to coach for nearly 40 years, including seven as a head coach for the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Clippers, and SuperSonics. He made the playoffs three times, but went a combined 2-9 in three first-round exits.

John Amaechi, 31 points (March 11, 2000)

John Amaechi, not dissimilar to Pickett going from Siena to Penn State, started his collegiate career at Vanderbilt in 1990 before transferring in 1992. He managed to get five years of full eligibility, reliably averaging 17 points and nine rebounds by the end of his collegiate career.

He went undrafted and made his NBA debut in 1995 for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but played just 28 games before going overseas for the next three years. After playing well in France and Greece, he signed with the Magic in 1999, starting 53 out of 80 games in his first season. In a game against the Nuggets in March 2000, he scored 31 points and led Orlando to victory.

Amaechi’s career ended after a stint with the Utah Jazz in 2002-03, but he’s done well for himself since retirement, remaining prominent in British media. He also gained notoriety in retirement by becoming the first NBA player to come out as gay in 2007.

Lamar Stevens, 31 points (April 13, 2025)

If you ask younger Penn State hoops fans who the greatest player in the program’s history is, a lot will name Lamar Stevens. He was the face of the team’s NIT title in 2018, and the memorable 2019-20 team that had its NCAA Tournament hopes dashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite being a two-time All-Big Ten honoree and the NIT MVP, Stevens went undrafted in 2020 and toiled through a five-season NBA career that included frequent trips to the G-League. Playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Celtics, Stevens would get minutes as a bench wing that didn’t provide much scoring.

That was until the final game of the 2024-25 season, when the extremely shorthanded Grizzlies faced an extremely shorthanded Mavericks team. In a glorified season-ending exhibition between teams with a laundry list of injuries, Stevens had the best game of his career, scoring 31 points en route to a blowout victory for Memphis.

Stevens is currently playing in France, so if he never suits up in an NBA game again, this will go down as his final game. Not a bad way to go out, eh?

Frank Brickowski, 34 points (April 12, 1988)

In terms of NBA success, Frank Brickowski might be the best Penn State can offer. He played in an impressive 731 games across 12 seasons and is the all-time leading scorer from the program in the NBA. He was a third-round pick by the New York Knicks in 1981, but didn’t make his NBA debut until 1984 with Seattle.

He would have spells as a high-usage starter in the NBA, averaging 16 points a game with the Spurs in 1988 and 16.9 points a game with the Bucks in 1993. Almost all of the 30-point games by alumni have come from him.

His best game came against the Rockets in April 1988, finishing the season strong with a 34-point, 15-rebound effort, matched up against Hakeem Olajuwon himself. By the end of his career, he was a role player for the SuperSonics. He got to play in the NBA Finals against the dynasty Chicago Bulls, getting into spats with Dennis Rodman.