Penn State men’s basketball made history on Thursday night as both Seth Lundy and Jalen Pickett were selected during the second round of the NBA Draft, marking the first time the program has had two players chosen in the same draft.
“I would love to play in the NBA if I ever got a chance to,” Pickett told StateCollege.com earlier in the year. “That would probably be — it would be filled with emotions on both sides for them [his family] and for me to finally get there. So if I’m grateful if that opportunity happens.”
Pickett was the first off the board, going far earlier than most draft experts expected at the No. 32 spot to the Denver Nuggets, just two picks into the second round. He was selected by former Nittany Lion great Calvin Booth, who is fresh off an NBA championship as the Nuggets general manager, and is the highest draft choice of a Penn State player in the modern era. Pickett was seen as a possible second round selection but most expected his name to be called in the later stages of the round.
Lundy went No. 46 overall to the Atlanta Hawks to give Penn State its slice of history. The duo are the second and third Nittany Lions to be selected since 2018 following in the footsteps of Tony Carr who was drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft at the No. 51 spot.
Penn State has now seen six players either drafted or play in the NBA since 2018, including Lundy, Pickett, Lamar Stevens, Josh Reaves, Tim Frazier and Tony Carr.
