Former Penn State men's basketball player John Amaechi will announce that he is gay in a book titled "Man in the Middle," scheduled to be released Feb. 20, according to Chris Raymond, editor of ESPN Books.

Amaechi, who played for the Nittany Lions from 1992 to 1995 and later played five seasons in the NBA, will become the first NBA player, current or retired, to publicly declare that he is gay. Amaechi, a 6-10 center, played for Cleveland, Orlando and Utah before he retired from the league in 2003.

In the book, Raymond said, Amaechi discusses his first gay sexual encounter, which occurred at Penn State, and alleged discrimination by women's basketball coach Rene Portland.

Amaechi was a two-year captain under head coach Bruce Parkhill and is Penn State's 10th all-time scorer with 1,310 points.

The book release coincides with an interview with Amaechi scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sunday on ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

In an excerpt of the interview posted on ESPN.com, Amaechi explained why the NBA would not embrace his lifestyle.

"The machismo," Amaechi said. "It's a testosterone-riddled group, and it's not just the NBA, it's professional sports. I mean, it's very, almost ancient Greek in its philosophy. It is the pinnacle of man, that's what people think."