LOS ANGELES – Penn State men's basketball senior point guard Jalen Pickett has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List, being announced Monday night as one of 20 front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor.
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.
The six-foot-four guard has played his best in Big Ten play, 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.
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.
Pickett is on track to set a Penn State 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 to best the school-record mark.
Pickett has put together a stellar collegiate career with career marks of 1,922 points, 673 rebounds and 744 assists through three seasons at Siena and two at Penn State. He is just one of three active Division I players with 1,800 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists and one of two active Division I players with upwards of 1,000 points and 700 assists. His 744 career assists are third amongst active Division I players.
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.
Wooden Award Late Season Top 20
Jalen Pickett, Penn State
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Kendric Davis, Memphis
Zach Edey, Purdue
Kyle Filipowski, Duke
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State
Mike Miles Jr., TCU
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Kris Murray, Iowa
Markquis Nowell, Kansas State
Marcus Sasser, Houston
Terquavion Smith, NC State
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Isaiah Wong, Miami
