Penn State Men’s Basketball: Jalen Pickett Named ESPN National Player of the Week

Penn State men’s basketball guard Jalen Pickett received multiple national player of the week honors following his two outstanding performances against Illinois and Minnesota. Over those two games, he averaged 36.5 points, eight assists and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Pickett on Monday was named ESPN National Player of the Week, the NCAA March Madness Player of the Week, the Lute Olson National Player of the Week, the Field of 68 National Player of the Week and the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Throughout the course of that two-game stretch, Pickett shot 65% from the field, 53% from three and 92.3% from the stripe. According to OptaSTATS, Pickett is the only collegiate player in the last 25 years to have a two-game span with 70+ points, 15+ assists, 10+ rebounds, 65.0+ field goal percentage and 90.0+ free throw percentage. The only players to have those same numbers in the last 25 years are Lebron James and Steph Curry in the NBA.

In the game against Illinois, Pickett scored 41 points while shooting 75% from the field. He also totaled eight assists and two rebounds. It was the first 40+ point game for a Nittany Lion since 1961, and the sixth-ever 40-point game in program history. He also scored his 2,000th point in that game.

Pickett tallied 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in Minnesota. He brought down his 700th career rebound as well, making him the first Division I player in at least 37 years to have accumulated 2000+ career points, 700+ career rebounds and 700+ career assists. 

Pickett continues to be the only player in the country averaging 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game. The last time a player finished the season with that stat line was Denzel Valentine’s All-American season in 2015-16. He would go on to win Big Ten Player of the Year.

The Nittany Lions will return to action on Thursday at Ohio State, where Pickett will try to keep his historic scoring streak alive.