Penn State hoops names captains ahead of season start
The Penn State men’s basketball program announced its captains for the 2022-23 season on Thursday. And this time, boasting a strong roster of senior leadership, the Nittany Lions are going big.
Seniors all, Penn State’s captains include Seth Lundy, Myles Dread, Jalen Pickett, and Andrew Funk. Dread, Pickett, and Funk are all in their fifth seasons of college basketball, utilizing the COVID bonus year of eligibility.
“Jalen, Seth, Andrew, and Myles have each been great leaders for our program throughout the summer and fall,” said Shrewsberry via press release. “Not only have they served as on-court leaders for their teammates, but each of them has also helped drive and enforce the culture of our program. All four of them play an important role for our team this year and are very deserving of the captain title.”
In all, the Nittany Lions have eight players on the 16-man roster with senior or senior-plus eligibility this season. Adding three third-year performers to the mix in Caleb Dorsey, Dallion Johnson, and walk-on Andy Christos, veterans are aplenty as the program works to mesh young and old ahead of the 2022-23 season.
“The guys that we have returning, the guys you got coming in, it’s a little bit of a mesh between freshmen and older guys,” transfer guard Camren Wynter said at the program’s preseason media day.
At the forefront, Pickett and Lundy represent Penn State’s two leading scorers from last season returning for the current campaign. Pickett is a Preseason All-Big Ten selection and has already notched more than 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists for his career with an opportunity to heavily build on all of those numbers this year.
Lundy, meanwhile, has been a mainstay for the Nittany Lions, breaking out on the defensive side of the floor in Shrewsberry’s first season at the helm. Last year, he put up 11.9 points per game while starting each of the team’s 30 games for the season.
Dread has been one of Penn State’s most consistent 3-point shooters throughout his career as a Nittany Lion. Now up to 232 career makes from deep, Dread needs 76 makes this season to move into fourth all-time with Joe Crispin.
And with Funk’s addition to the program, the Bucknell standout shooter has seamlessly meshed with the program as he caps his college career as a Nittany Lion.
According to Shrewsberry, the introduction of both Funk and Wynter into the program this offseason offered immediate feedback that Penn State’s pickups were going to be valuable for the program this year.
“You would look out there in the summer and Cam Wynter and Andrew Funk looked like they had been a part of our group for five years, or four years, their entire program,” Shrewsberry said. “Those two guys fit in seamlessly from day one. And that aided in their transition. But it also showed that they earned the respect of the other guys that had been here very quickly. You see that kind of seamless transition.”
Penn State opens its season on Monday, Nov. 7 when it hosts Winthrop at the Bryce Jordan Center.
