The Saratogian (Saratoga, NY)

Siena’s Pickett named to Lou Henson All-American Team

- By Sports Staff sports@troyrecord.com

Team honor adds to a laundry list of accomplish­ments earned by Pickett during his sensationa­l sophomore season. He was previously named the 2019-20 MAAC Player of the Year and a unanimous

First Team All-MAAC selection, an NABC District 1 First Team honoree, and a USBWA All-District II selection.

A three-time MAAC Player of the Week, Pickett ranked seventh nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.30) this season, and stood 20th in the country in assists (6.0). He also ranked third in the MAAC in minutes (36.9 – 21st nationally), fourth in scoring (15.1), sixth in blocks (1.1), and seventh in threes (2.0). Pickett posted four doubledoub­les, and scored in double figures 25 times.

Through his first two brilliant seasons donning the Green and Gold, Pickett has already amassed 959 career points which stands second only to the program’s all-time leading scorer Marc Brown ‘91 (979) for most points tallied in any players first two years at Siena. Pickett’s 396 career assists already ranks him eighth on Siena’s alltime charts overall, while his 15.5 points per game scoring average stands eighth and 6.4 assists per contest checks in second all-time only to Brown’s career mark of 6.5.

Pickett helped guide the Saints to the program’s most successful season in a decade. Siena won the program’s eighth MAAC Regular Season Championsh­ip, and was awarded its sixth MAAC Tournament Championsh­ip while also being the conference’s NCAA automatic qualifier. The Saints posted a 20-10 overall record including a 15-5 ledger in the MAAC, and finished the season with 10 consecutiv­e wins to mark the nation’s seventh longest active winning streak.

The Lou Henson Award Committee is a 30-member panel, consisting of five current Division I head coaches, five retired head coaches, 10 current athletic directors and/or conference administra­tors, five members of the national media, and five CollegeIns­ider.com staff members. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major player voted on by the award committee and covering 22 mid-major conference­s.

Lou Henson won 775 games spanning 41 seasons as the winningest head coach in program history at both Illinois and New Mexico State. One of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four, he led his teams to 19 NCAA Tournament appearance­s and four NIT berths.

 ?? BY SANDY SPICER AND STOCKTON PHOTO ?? Photo provided by Siena Athletics.Jalen Pickett currently ranks ninth nationally in assists (6.7), 22nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.76), and 35th in steals (2.0). Amongst NCAA Division I freshmen, he ranks second in assists, fourth in steals, and fifth in assist-toturnover ratio. Pickett led the MAAC in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, ranked second in steals, fourth in blocks (0.9), and seventh in scoring (15.8).
BY SANDY SPICER AND STOCKTON PHOTO Photo provided by Siena Athletics.Jalen Pickett currently ranks ninth nationally in assists (6.7), 22nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.76), and 35th in steals (2.0). Amongst NCAA Division I freshmen, he ranks second in assists, fourth in steals, and fifth in assist-toturnover ratio. Pickett led the MAAC in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, ranked second in steals, fourth in blocks (0.9), and seventh in scoring (15.8).

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