Penn State’s Seth Lundy picked 46th in the 2023 NBA Draft
Penn State Basketball forward Seth Lundy got selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 46th pick in the 2023 NBA draft. This makes him the second Penn State pick tonight marking the first time in school history Penn State has had two players selected in the same draft, both in the top 50.
Lundy came to Penn State in the high school class of 2019 from Roman Catholic high school in Philadelphia, PA. He was the highest-rated member of Penn State’s 2019 recruiting class rated as a 3-star and the 219th-ranked player according to the 247 sports composite rankings.
Lundy spent 4 years at Penn State where he enjoyed a successful but turbulent, through no fault of his own, career. Lundy played in a mostly off-ball role and turned eventual starter in his freshman season for a very talented Penn State team that would have made it to the NCAA tournament if it hadn’t gotten shut down due to COVID. About a month before his sophomore season kicked off head coach Pat Chambers was fired following the completion of an investigation into potential insensitive remarks made by the coach. This rocked the team and even though they remained a talented and competitive group, everyone struggled. Following that season almost everyone on the roster entered the transfer portal. Lundy, despite gaining immense interest from many programs, decided to return to play for Penn State under new head coach Micah Shrewsberry. He struggled a bit in his junior year with more responsibility and a new system but still showed great potential in games like his 30-point outburst at Maryland.
This past season was the year Lundy finally put it all together. He averaged a career-high 14.2 points per game and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 45% from the field and 40% from deep on 6.4 attempts per game. Penn State and head coach Micah Shrewsberry simplified his role back to what it was as a freshman. The majority of his shots came from beyond the arc with catch-and-shoot threes off great passes from Jalen Pickett. He wasn’t forced to be the guy anymore and was just allowed to play his game. He was Penn State’s second-best player during their Big Ten and NCAA tournament runs including some late-game heroics against Northwestern to keep the season alive.
Lundy decided to enter the draft despite having an extra year of eligibility left which turned out to be a great decision. With fellow draftee Jalen Pickett graduating Lundy wouldn’t have had someone to easily set him up like he did this year as well as the roster looking completely different after the departure of Micah Shrewsberry. He also excelled at the combine, knocking down 8-12 threes throughout 3 scrimmages, and turning heads with his pro day workout.
Lundy joins a Hawks team that has been a bit disappointing but has a ton of talent. Lundy should add more shooting to open up the floor for star guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Lundy also brings more hustle and grit to a team that was too passive at times. He should be a perfect fit in any role Atlanta decided to give him
Lundy stayed loyal to Penn State to the end and never gave up. He was a crucial part of two of the best Penn State teams of the last 20 years and all that hard work paid off in the end after getting picked by the Atlanta Hawks with the 46th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft.
