DES MOINES, Iowa – Penn State men’s basketball senior guard Jalen Pickett has added two more All-America accolades to his resume, being named a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) second-team All-American and a U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) third-team All-American Wednesday.
The NABC and USBWA are two of the four outlets used by the NCAA to determine its consensus All-America teams (AP, NABC, USBWA and Sporting News). Pickett has already been named a second-team All-American by both the AP and Sporting News.
Pickett is Penn State’s first All-American in nearly 70 years. Pickett joins Jesse Arnelle as the only two Nittany Lions in program history to earn second-team or higher All-America status. Arnelle, who led the Nittany Lions to a Final Four, collected first-team All-America honors in 1954 from the Helms Foundation and second-team honors in 1955.
Pickett’s long and growing list of national accolades also includes landing on the Wooden Award National Ballot, the Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watchlist and being named a Top Five Finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. The Rochester, N.Y. native was also a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection and earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament team for his role in guiding Penn State to its first conference title game in 12 years.
Pickett’s outstanding season has led Penn State to a 22-13 overall record and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2011.
Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 17 points (17.9) per game, seven rebounds (7.3) per game and six assists (6.7) per game. Only two men’s college basketball players in the last 30 years (since 1992-93 season) have finished a season averaging 17/7/6 or better: Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine (19.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 7.8 apg – 2015-16) and Memphis’ Penny Hardaway (22.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 6.4 apg – 1992-93).
Pickett ranks in the top 10 nationally in both assists per game (6.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.04) while engineering a Penn State offense that ranks fourth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.0) and 17th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric.
The Rochester, N.Y. native’s season highlights include a 41-point game, a 32-point game, 13 20-point games, six double-doubles and one triple-double. He has already set a Penn State…
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