Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions emerging as a 2021-22 offseason winner

Key offseason additions for Penn State Basketball

The Nittany Lions have been no stranger to having their roster picked apart by the bottomless transfer portal – but they have also not shied away from securing significant replacements who should be able to replicate the production lost – and even potentially exceed it.

Shrewsberry and his staff have been tasked with filling in the gaps left by Myreon Jones Jr. and Izaiah Brockington, Penn State’s top two leading scorers last season at 15.3 and 12.6 points per game – as well as starting point guard Jamari Wheeler after all three opted to transfer out.  But two key incoming transfers – who posted impressive numbers last season at their previous institutions – should prevent the Nittany Lions from taking a step back next year.

The first of those newcomers is Jaheam Cornwall, who joins Penn State after an illustrious four-year career at Gardner-Webb.  An immediate contributor from his freshman season where he played over 22 minutes per game, Cornwall was an offensive force for the Runnin’ Bulldogs in 2020-21, averaging a team-high and league eighth-best 14.1 points per game – as well as a team-best 3.8 assists, which ranked fourth in the Big South.

A First Team All-Big South selection to wrap up his time with Gardner-Webb, Cornwall has spent three of his four years as one of the deadliest long-range shooters in the country, ranking 40th (44.8%) his freshman campaign and 13th (45.4%) his junior year.  This past season saw Cornwall’s percentage drop to 40.8% – but that still ranked 185th in the nation, a significant mark for a player that took a quarter of the Bulldogs’ shots when in the game.

The other significant transfer is Jalen Pickett, a mid-major star whom I wrote about at good length prior to the 2020-21 campaign.  A three-year player at Siena, few players have cemented a legacy with the Saints as distinguished as Pickett, who set the tone immediately during his freshman campaign – a year that saw Pickett receive MAAC Rookie of the Week a league-record 11 times and earn First Team All-MAAC and MAAC Rookie of the Year honors at the conclusion.

A few of Pickett’s stats dropped from his sophomore year – when he was awarded MAAC Player of the Year after averaging 15.1 points, 6.0 assists, and 4.6 rebounds – to his junior campaign, but he still logged 12.9 points and 6.3 boards en route to another appearance on the All-Conference First Team.  In addition, Pickett’s 4.8 assists this year led the MAAC – the third-straight time he has done so – along with a conference-best 2.21 assist-to-turnover ratio.  Pickett’s athletic 6-4 stature also allowed him to block 1.14 shots per game, which ranked fifth in the nation among guards.

Obviously, both pick-ups are noteworthy for their prior statistical contributions at their previous colleges – but both are also perfect in filling the holes left by Wheeler, Jones, and Brockington, with all three headlining Penn State’s backcourt.  Cornwall saw nearly all of his playing time come at point guard, while Pickett primarily played shooting guard – but alternated between point and shooting guard, as well as small forward.

Cornwall’s hot shooting could see him slotted primarily at shooting guard, while Pickett’s physicality and vision on the court – paired with the return of Myles Dread, Brockington’s backup at small forward – should see the Siena star take the helm as the floor general, while also supplying the occasional minutes at shooting guard and small forward.