UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's basketball senior guard Jalen Pickett has been selected as a consensus first-team All-Big Ten pick to lead the Nittany Lions' conference postseason awards contingent. Seniors Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk were both selected as honorable mention All-Big Ten picks, while senior Camren Wynter is Penn State's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Pickett becomes the sixth Nittany Lion in program history to be named consensus (coaches and media) first-team All-Big Ten and the first since Lamar Stevens in 2020. The Rochester, N.Y. native was a unanimous first-team selection by the conference media. Lundy and Funk both pick up their first-career Big Ten postseason honors, being named honorable mention All-Big Ten by both the conference coaches and media.
JALEN PICKETT
All-Big Ten First Team (Coaches and Media; unanimous pick by media)
Pickett has put together one of the finest seasons in Penn State history. He is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points (18.0) 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.
The six-foot-four guard played his best in Big Ten play, averaging 19.2 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 55.8% from the field. Pickett finished the conference season in the top five of the Big Ten in scoring (fourth), rebounding (fifth), assists (first), assist-to-turnover ratio (second), and field goal percentage (fourth) in Big Ten games.
Pickett ranks in the top five nationally in both assists per game (7.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.27) while engineering a Penn State offense that ranks third nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.8) and 15th in effective field goal percentage (.561).
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 31 games this season, dishing 216 assists to this point.
Pickett has earned major national attention, becoming the first Penn State player to ever land on the Wooden Award National Ballot. He is a top five finalist for the Bob Cousy Award that honors the nation's top point guard, as well as an Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watchlist honoree.
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 2,111 points, 732 rebounds and 814 assists. He needs just 28 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone in a Penn State uniform. He has tallied 972 points, 359 rebounds and 351 assists through just 62 games as a Nittany Lion.
SETH LUNDY
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Coaches and Media)
Lundy has put together a career-best season as Penn State's second-leading scorer and rebounder. The Paulsboro, N.J. native is averaging 14.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. His 40.9 3FG% leads the Big Ten and ranks in the top 30 in the nation.
Lundy has been one of the most efficiently productive players in the country this season. He is the only player in the Big Ten and one of just eight players in the nation that is averaging double-digit points (14.0) and six-plus (6.1) rebounds per game while shooting at least 50% from two (53.2%), 40% from three (40.9%) and 80% from the free throw line (80.0%).
Lundy is having his most consistent year in the Blue & White and has scored in double figures in 25 games this season, including five 20-point contests. In addition to his offensive consistency, Lundy serves as one of the team's top defenders and is consistently tasked with guarding the opposing team's best players.
The Big Ten's sharpest of shooters, Lundy's 40.9 three-point field goal percentage leads the Big Ten while his 2.63 triples per game ranks third in the conference. He made eight 3-pointers in a road game at Nebraska, tied for the second-most in a single game in program history. The senior drilled seven triples and finished with a season-high 25 points in Penn State's 19-point win over Indiana on Jan. 11.
Lundy became the 39th member of Penn State's 1,000-career point club on Jan. 11 in the win over the Hoosiers. He owns career marks of 1,187 points and 514 rebounds.
ANDREW FUNK
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Coaches and Media)
Funk, a graduate transfer from Bucknell, made an immediate impact upon arrival to Happy Valley this season. He finished the regular season averaging 12.0 points per game while leading the Big Ten and ranking in the top 30 in the nation with 2.94 3-pointers per contest. His 40.6 3FG% is also a top 30 mark in the country and second in the Big Ten, behind only teammate Seth Lundy.
Funk shot 40.6 percent from deep in Big Ten play, leading the conference in both 3FG made per game and 3FG% in conference games.
The Warrington, Pa. native scored in double-figures in 21 games this season, with six 20-point showings. He scored a season-best 23 points in a pair of Penn State wins over Indiana and Nebraska. Funk drilled a season-high seven triples in the Nittany Lions' victory against the Hoosiers to help Penn State claim its largest win over Indiana in program history.
Funk, who spent the first four seasons of his collegiate career at Bucknell, owns impressive career marks of 1,603 points and 281 3-pointers. Stellar in the classroom as well, Funk is an Academic All-District selection who is in the running for Academic All-America honors.
CAMREN WYNTER
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree
Wynter, a graduate transfer from Drexel, has been a key player for the Nittany Lions all season, but especially as of late. The guard hit back-to-back game-winning shots in Penn State's two most recent wins, both Quad 1 victories that helped propel the Nittany Lions to finish 10-10 in conference play. Wynter averaged 15.2 ppg while shooting 61.7% (29-47) from the field and 72.2% (13-18) from 3-point range in Penn State's final five games of the regular season in which the Nittany Lions went 4-1.
Wynter owns impressive career marks of 1,928 points, 578 rebounds and 638 assists through four seasons at Drexel and one at Penn State. He had 12 double-digit scoring games for the Nittany Lions this season.
The sportsmanship award is given to student-athletes from each Big Ten school who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. All recipients must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The Nittany Lions open postseason play Thursday when Penn State takes on Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. Tipoff from the United Center in Chicago is set for 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
