Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 6 A P R I L 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M It all started with Pickett learning his abilities as a back-to-the-basket "booty ball" scorer and facilitator. "We lucked into him being able to score in the post. We didn't utilize him in that way until midway through the season last year. It just kind of happened organi- cally," Shrewsberry said. "And then I was like, 'Hey, why don't we do this a little bit more? He's pretty good down there.'" With that revelation, the seeds of Penn State's 2022-23 season were planted. Sessoms transferred and Harrar ran out of eligibility, but with Funk and another backcourt transfer, senior Camren Wyn- ter, complementing Pickett, a wildly improved offensive attack began taking shape. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Pickett could make plays from spots all over the floor, including in the paint. Able to assess defenses and understand of how to beat them, he was capable of dictating games. "He makes the other four players that are on the floor with him even better," said Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams after watching his Aggies fall 76-59 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Mid- west Region. "He is an elite-level passer. When your rotation happens, whatever you're going to do, the decision is hap- pening now. … They play with a low turn- over rate, and then as soon as you make your decision on how you're going to help, it's going to lead to an immediate three." Crucial Additions To reach his potential, Pickett needed the right players around him. While some were already in the program, the formula wouldn't work without a combination of the right transfer portal additions and personnel transformations. In the portal, those crucial players committed to the program on the same day: April 14, 2022. Funk was the first to join after spending his first four seasons at Bucknell, and Wynter soon followed, heading to State College from Drexel, where he had been a do-it-all scoring guard. Their pledges changed what Penn State could become. First, though, two returning players needed to embrace new roles. A starter for 78 career games, in his fifth and final season as a Nittany Lion, Dread needed to accept a move to the bench and the reduced minutes that entailed. He would still be a three-point shooting specialist, but he would also be required to do the dirty work of guarding bigs. The change required team-first selflessness, and he delivered, earning his first career captaincy along the way. Lundy, too, needed to shift his per- spective. He had taken major strides to become a top-tier defender as a junior, but he also committed 63 turnovers in 30 games. Penn State's new approach was going to take the ball out of his hands. Shrewsberry felt that his best role was as a catch-and-shoot three-point sniper. Complemented by much-needed con- tributions from transfer forward Mikey Henn, and a trio of true freshmen — for- wards Kebba Njie and Evan Mahaffey, and guard Kanye Clary — Shrewsberry and the Nittany Lions believed in their po- tency. It all converged into 40 minutes of dia- bolically beautiful basketball against the Aggies. Penn State shot 59 percent from three-point range (13 of 22), building a 16-point halftime lead and never looking back. It was the team's first NCAA Tour- nament win in more than two decades, and it was also the group's best perfor- mance of the season. The campaign ended two days later with a 71-66 loss to second-seeded Texas. But the season as a whole was a remark- able success. It was also an affirmation that Shrewsberry had put the right plan in place when he accepted the Penn State job two years earlier. "I had never coached a game before in my life [as a head coach]," he said. "We talked about this vision of doing this, and it's all coming to fruition for us." ■ After focusing on defense last year, Shrewsberry built a potent offensive team this past season. The Nittany Lions aver- aged 10.4 three-pointers per game to rank first in the Big Ten and sixth in Division I. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE