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Penn State Men’s Basketball: Jalen Pickett Named to Wooden Award Top 20 Watch List

Penn State senior guard Jalen Pickett has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List it was announced this week.

Heading into February, Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 17 points (17.6) per game, eight rebounds per game (8.0) and seven assists (7.0) per game. Not a single men’s college basketball player in at least the last 30 years has finished a season averaging 17/8/7. So far in Big Ten play, Pickett is averaging 19.4 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game and 6.1 assists per game through 10 conference contests. He’s shooting 54.9% from the field, 40.7% percent from 3-point range and 75.8% from the free throw line in conference action.  

He is currently only trace to set Penn State’s single-season assists record. The current single-season Nittany Lion record stands with Tim Frazier’s 198 assists in 2012. Pickett already has 146 assists through 21 games this season, meaning he needs to average just 4.7 helpers per game through the remaining 11 guaranteed games this season [10 regular season and at least one Big Ten Tournament game] to set the new mark.

Pickett leads the conference and ranks in the top 10 nationally in both assists per game (7.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.11). The Rochester, N.Y. native is the only Big Ten player that ranks in the top 10 of the conference statistical standings in scoring (fifth), rebounding (seventh) and assists (first).  

Pickett has tallied six double-doubles and one triple-double this season, just the second triple-double in Penn State history. The do-it-all point guard has recorded nine 20-point games this season, 19 double-digit scoring efforts, and has led Penn State in assists in 20 games.

The 20 players on the Wooden Award Late Season Watch List are considered as front-runners to land on the Wooden Award National Ballot, which consists of 15 top players who have proven to meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.