A day before Penn State is set to play in its first NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game since 2011, [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] has added another all-American honor to his name. On Wednesday, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association revealed its all-American teams for the 2022-23 season, and Pickett was included on the third team.
In being named to the USBWA All-American list, Pickett becomes the first player in Penn State program history to receive all-American honors from the basketball writers association. On top of making al-American history for the Nittany Lions, Pickett was named the District II Player of the Year.
Pickett was behind first-team guard Marcus Sasser of Houston and second-team guards Jaime Jaquez Jr. of UCLA and Tyler Kolek of Marquette on the USBWA all-American voting. He was one of two guards on the third team, with Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell also appearing on the third team roster.
A pair of Big Ten players, Purdue’s Zach Edey and Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, landed on the first team from the USBWA. Pickett was joined on the USBWA third team by Iowa forward Kris Murray as the only other Big Ten players to be honored by the USBWA along. The Big Ten had the most USBWA all-Americans among all conferences with four.
Pickett was previously named a second-team All-American by Sporting News.
Pickett will lead Penn State into its first NCAA Tournament since 2011 when the Nittany Lions face Texas A&M in the first round on Thursday night. Penn State has not won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2001.
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