Two guards who helped Penn State reach the NCAA Tournament this season made history Thursday night when they were chosen in the second round of the NBA Draft.
Jalen Pickett went 32nd overall to the recently crowned NBA champion Denver Nuggets before Seth Lundy was picked 46th by the Atlanta Hawks. It marked the first time two Penn State basketball players were picked in the same draft.
They are also the first Nittany Lions drafted since Tony Carr went to the New Orleans Pelicans (No. 51 overall) in 2018.
Pickett, a consensus All-American, is the highest-drafted Nittany Lions player in the modern era of the two-round NBA Draft, which dates to 1989. Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth, a former Penn State player, is the previous highest PSU pick (35th overall).
Pickett averaged 17.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists with a 50.8 field-goal percentage this season. He is the first Division I men’s college basketball player in at least the past 30 years to average 17/7/6 or more while shooting at least 50%.
Lundy completed his four-year Penn State career in 2022-23 by averaging 14.2 points and 6.3 rebounds. He was one of only five Division I players to reach 10-plus points per game and 6-plus rebounds per game while shooting at least 50% from two-point range (53.3%), 40% from 3-point range (40%) and 80% from the free throw line (80.7%).
Lundy finished his Penn State career sixth in school history in career 3-pointers (229).
Pickett and Lundy led Penn State to a 23-14 overall record, its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2001 and first trip to the tournament since 2011.
