Arizin did not play basketball at La Salle College High School, failing to make the team in his only tryout as a senior.

Arizin graduated just a year before another Basketball Hall of Famer, Tom Gola, entered La Salle College High School as a freshman.

During his freshman year at Villanova, Arizin played CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) basketball in Philadelphia.

Late in that season, Al Severance, then the Villanova varsity basketball coach, attended one of Arizin's CYO games.

[6] On March 20, 1954, he appeared in a game for the Berwick Carbuilders of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) and scored 32 points.

After retiring from the NBA, Arizin played for three seasons with the Camden Bullets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL), who won the 1964 title.