Penn State point guard Jalen Pickett has been playing some of the best basketball in the country by leading the team to the cusp of an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament and now the John Wooden Award voters have recognized him for it.
Pickett has been named to the Wooden Award National Ballot which consists of 15 of the best men’s basketball players in the country.
Pickett is the only player in the country to average at least 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists per game and the Rochester, New York native would be the only one of two players to accomplish that feat in the past 30 seasons. Denzel Valentine of Michigan State averages 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game en route to winning AP National Player of the Year honors following the 2015-16 season.
Pickett has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.32, and he and Trace Jackson-Davis of Indiana, who is also on the Wooden Award ballot, are the only two players in the Big Ten in the top ten in points, rebounds, and assists. On Wednesday night’s win over Northwestern, Pickett passed Tim Fraizer’s single season assist record and has 209 assists to this point in the season.
Pickett will look to strengthen its NCAA tournament resume on senior day Sunday afternoon against Maryland, with tipoff at noon on the Big Ten Network.
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