Penn State draftees shine in latest NBA Summer League action, show blueprint for future Nittany Lions
Sunday night, former Penn State basketball stars Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy graced a game court together for the first time since March. This time, though, it was as opponents.
With Pickett taken No. 32 overall in the NBA Draft to the Denver Nuggets and Lundy following shortly thereafter at No. 46 to the Atlanta Hawks, the pair began its journey to the NBA. Showing well against each other, even guarding each other at times, their follow-up appearances on Wednesday evening delivered similarly solid results.
Facing the Utah Jazz in Las Vegas, Pickett and the Nuggets fell in a 96-91 decision. But, the former Penn State point guard started and shined in his 31 minutes of action, producing 12 points while shooting an efficient 6-of-9 from the floor. He also grabbed six rebounds and led the Nuggets with team-highs of eight assists and three bocks.
Through three Summer League games, Pickett is among the NBA’s leaders in multiple categories. He’s averaging 6.0 assists per game, good for third, while averaging 1.3 blocks, also third. At 32.5 minutes per game, he’s also the fourth-most heavily used player thus far.
With the Atlanta Hawks, meanwhile, Lundy came on as a reserve in a 99-93 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. He dropped 14 points over just 17 minutes of action, hitting 4-of-10 shots from the floor, all 3-pointers. Along with his electric shooting from deep, Lundy added five rebounds and a block against three turnovers in his performance.
Penn State basketball as NBA feeder?
Meeting with the media on Tuesday this week, new Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades is determined to ensure Pickett and Lundy aren’t the last of the Nittany Lions’ NBA products.
Having helped shepherd NBA careers for Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, Vince Williams Jr., Justin Tillman, Larry Sanders, Troy Daniels, Briante Weber and Treveon Graham in his time as a head coach and assistant with VCU, Rhoades pointed to the success of Pickett and Lundy as a blueprint for type of NBA success Penn State can provide.
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“You can come to Penn State and be a pro because you have the stage,” Rhoades said. “Now, what we want to do is we want to make it successful, winning basketball. I’m not sure those guys get drafted if they didn’t have the season they had as a team. Because at the next level, no matter how good of a player you are, can you impact winning?
“GMs want guys that are going to help the team win and help the team get to the playoffs and help the team win a world championship in the NBA. That’s no matter what. That’s what they want. So, Seth and Pick, I mean, very good players, but then they capped off their careers at Penn State with wins, with success. And that makes it even more appealing to the next level.”
Next steps
Now succeeding in their earliest steps in the NBA, the path is one Rhoades believes can be followed by others in a Nittany Lion uniform moving forward.
“It just shows that yeah, you can do it at Penn State,” Rhoades said. “You could play in the NBA from Penn State. You want the opportunity, you want the development, and you want the stage, and we could provide all three of those things for our guys.”
