Jalen Pickett announces he will return for Penn State Basketball
By Evan Smith
Penn State Basketball got some good news following Friday’s season-ending loss to Purdue, as Jalen Pickett will return for the 2022-2023 season
Jalen Pickett, the conference’s leader in minutes played, announced he will return to the Nittany Lions for the 2022-2023 season using his COVID-19 final year of eligibility.
Pickett, who averaged 37.2 minutes and played every minute of Penn State Basketball’s first two games in the Big Ten Tournament, started every game on the season. He averaged 13.3 points per game to go with 4.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 turnovers.
A volume offensive player, Pickett shot 42% on 12.4 shots per game but just 32% on 4.7 three-point shots per game.
It became almost a running gag as the year wore on that Pickett led the league in ‘dribbles’ and while not an actually tracked statistic, Penn State Basketball did overly rely on Pickett dribbling for 29 seconds before putting up a contested end of shot clock attempt, likely fading away.
However, Pickett was successful on his fair share of those shots and in a slow down style of offense, his shot-making, particularly in the post, was essential to accumulate any points.
How Jalen Pickett’s return will impact Penn State Basketball in 2022-’23
Pickett is also a strong defender and even though his shooting from deep dropped significantly from his first three years in Siena, he was by far the most successful transfer portal player from Shrewsberry’s first class. He showed he belongs in the Big Ten Conference and wasn’t overmatched with the step up in conference.
Without knowing whether Sam Sessoms or Myles Dread will return (both eligible to use their COVID year of eligibility), Pickett will join Dallion Johnson as the only Nittany Lions returning in the backcourt. They will be joined by heralded recruits Jameel Brown and Kanye Clary, assuming Johnson doesn’t enter the portal himself this offseason.
No matter what, Pickett is guaranteed to be starting for the 2022-2023 season and his performance will be crucial for the team to have success.