INDIANAPOLIS – Penn State men's basketball point guard Jalen Pickett has been selected as one of 15 standout players on the 2022-23 Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watch List, as announced by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Thursday afternoon. Members of the USBWA board of directors chose the players that will be considered as contenders for the National Player of the Year.
Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points (18.1) per game, seven rebounds per game (7.3) and seven assists (7.0) per game. Only one men's college basketball player in the last 30 years (since 1992-93 season) has finished the season averaging 18/7/7. Michigan State's Denzel Valentine finished the 2015-16 season averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game en route to AP National Player of the Year accolades.
Pickett ranks in the top five nationally in both assists per game (7.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.32) while engineering a Penn State offense that ranks third nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.7) and 12th in effective field goal percentage (.560).
The six-foot-four guard has played his best in Big Ten play, averaging 19.3 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game and 6.5 assists per game. Pickett and Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis are the only two Big Ten players that rank in the top 10 of the conference statistical standings in scoring, rebounding and assists. Pickett ranks fourth in scoring, ninth in rebounding and first in assists.
The Rochester, N.Y. native's season highlights include a 41-point game, a 32-point game, 12 20-point games, six double-doubles and one triple-double. He has already set a Penn State single-season assists record through 30 games this season, dishing 209 assists to this point.
Pickett has put together a historic collegiate career as the only Division I men's college basketball player in AT LEAST the last 37 years to have accumulated marks of 2,000+ career points, 700+ career rebounds and 800+ career assists. Pickett currently owns career marks of 2,095 points, 725 rebounds and 807 assists.
The USBWA has named a National Player of the Year since the 1958-59 season. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation's oldest award and the only one named after a former player. The 2023 Oscar Robertson Trophy is to be presented by its namesake at the NCAA Final Four in Houston. A formal presentation will follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
2022-23 Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watch List
F/C Armando Bacot, North Carolina (6-11, 235, Sr., Richmond, Va.)
G Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy (6-1, 165, Gr., Birmingham, Ala.)
G Kendric Davis, Memphis (6-0, 177, Sr., Houston, Texas)
C Zach Edey, Purdue (7-4, 305, Jr. Toronto, Ontario)
F Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (6-9, 245, Jr., Greenwood, Ind.)
G/F Jaime Jacquez Jr., UCLA (6-7, 225, Sr., Camarillo, Calif.)
G Tyler Kolek, Marquette (6-3, 190, Jr., Cumberland, R.I.)
F Brandon Miller, Alabama (6-9, 200, Fr., Antioch, Tenn.)
F Kris Murray, Iowa (6-8, 220, Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
G Jalen Pickett, Penn State (6-4, 209, Sr., Rochester, N.Y.)
G Marcus Sasser, Houston (6-2, 195, Sr., Dallas, Texas)
F Drew Timme, Gonzaga (6-10, 235, Sr., Richardson, Texas)
F Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (6-9, 260, Sr., Lubumbashi, Congo)
F Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona (6-11, 245, Jr., Vilnius, Lithuania)
F Jalen Wilson, Kansas (6-8, 225, Jr., Denton, Texas)
